Chapter 174: The height of the temple (1)

During the battle of Lian County, the Khitan army retreated to Xijing Road, and the army did not dare to pass the back tao. Pugu, Tongluo and other tribes, were frightened by the power of the Black Diao Army, and even sent envoys to present gifts such as cattle and horses. The Hetao land was all under the control of the Black Diao Army.

When the Khitan Emperor Yelu Shulu learned that the army of Xijing Road was defeated by the Zhou army, Yelu Daguang led 300 cavalry to escape by chance. He was frightened to wake up after hanging over night. He transferred more than 10,000 Khitan troops from Youzhou and other places to supplement the Xijing Road. At this time, the Khitan army's court was relaxed and the military and political affairs were deserted. Except for Yelu Daguang, no one wanted to fight the Zhou army in Hetao. However, under the pressure of Yelu Shulu, several Khitan generals avoided Lingzhou and led their troops to attack the relatively weak prefectures and prefectures, killing some people, and lied that they had defeated several Great Zhou armies. Yelu Shulu turned a blind eye, and the matter was over.

According to Hou Dayong's original plan, the Black Diao Army only swept away more than 10,000 Khitan troops. Unexpectedly, the Khitan general Yelu Shulu personally led the army south. Although the Black Diao Army suffered a lot of losses, it defeated tens of thousands of Khitan troops. After the battle against Dinghetao, Hou Dayong was a little worried. As the saying goes: The wood is beautiful in the forest, and the wind will urge him. I don't know what Your Majesty Chai Rong would think of this matter?

Hou Dayong wrote a memorial with careful words, reporting on recent border affairs and wars. After the memorial was issued, Hou Dayong left Lingzhou, passed Xihuizhou, went to Jingyuan City, and then turned back to Tongxin City. Wherever he went, he must pay tribute to the fallen soldiers, visited the disabled soldiers in the Invalides' House, and then drank fine wine with the officers of each battalion and lie drunk on the military camp.

It took a full month to patrol this way. It was only in mid-June that Hou Dayong returned to Lingzhou. Seven or eight days after returning to Lingzhou, Shi Gao Yueming gave birth to a beautiful daughter of about seven kilograms. Shi Gao Yueming's hometown is on the bank of Qingshui River, and Hou Dayong named his daughter Hou Xiaoqing.

After Hou Dayong returned to the Great Zhou Dynasty for no reason, he had four children. Ajige from Sumo and Mohe clan gave birth to Hou Hu, Qiuju gave birth to Hou Xiaolu, Fu Ying gave birth to Hou Zonglin, and Shi Gao Yueming gave birth to Hou Xiaoqing. Except for Hou Xiaoqing, when the other three children were born, Hou Dayong was all fighting outside. Therefore, after Hou Xiaoqing was born, Hou Dayong left behind to thank the guests, and the military affairs were handed over to Shi Hu, the deputy governor who was ordered to be transferred back to Lingzhou, and the local affairs were handed over to Liang Shouheng to deal with them, and he focused on welcomeing the little life he was born.

Hou Dayong bathed Hou Xiaoqing every day. He used to be a father in another world and was a good at taking care of children. When Shi Gao Luqi saw Hou Dayong, a high-ranking official who was in charge, he actually did the work of a servant himself. He was familiar with his actions and enjoyed it. He was first surprised and then funny, and then he was really jealous of Shi Gao Yueming.

Hou Dayong left behind and thanked the guests for only three days. Feiyingtang used "Zheng He No. 9" to bring two top-secret information:

First, Your Majesty wanted to transfer Hou Dayong back to the court and replace Li Yu's position as the Minister of Geography, and Shi Hu, deputy envoy of Jiedu, replaced Hou Dayong as Jiedu.

In July of the year of Xiande, Li Yu served as the Minister of the Shousitu and the Shilang, Pingzhang, supervised the national history, and was a prime minister of the dynasty with Fan Zhi and Wang Bo. He had made many contributions over the years. Unexpectedly, he was defeated during the Southern Expedition and was punished by Chai Rong, and then activated. Glory was no better than before. Li Yu wrote many letters to resign from the position of prime minister, but Chai Rong did not agree. In May, Li Yu had a stroke and was bedridden. Chai Rong then agreed to Li Yu to retire and return home. Chai Rong received information from Hou Dayong and other channels to send Lian County battle information. After the great joy, Chai Rong went to the side and pondered for a long time. Finally, he decided to reward Hou Dayong heavily, and Hou Dayong replaced Li Yu's position.

Another piece of information was related to Zhao Pu. The Ministry of Personnel had issued a document to transfer Zhao Pu to the front of the palace to command Zhao Kuangyin as the post of marching Sima.

Zhao Pu was in charge of civil affairs in Lian County. Thousands of households and tens of thousands of ordinary people in Zhengzhou and Xuzhou have moved to Lian County. Over the past year, Zhao Pu has led the people to complete the preliminary repair of the city wall. At the same time, he has renovated fields and canals on both sides of the Yellow River. The large wasteland outside Lian County has become some of the past. Since the beginning of spring, there has been a long-lost production scene outside Lian County. On the periphery of the farmland, there are large green pastures, and many naughty young people ride horses on the pastures to chase, learning to grazle and hunt, and live a free and easy life.

After obtaining these two pieces of information, Hou Dayong recruited Shi Hu, Liang Shouheng and Qian Xiangnan to the study to discuss matters and responded to the changes urgently.

Nearly one month later, in mid-July, the Ministry of Personnel's documents arrived in Lingzhou, but the only way was to mobilize Zhao Puzhiwen.

On July 20th, Zhao Pu set out towards Daliang.

Although Zhao Pu is a civil servant, he has been in the Black Eagle Army for nearly two years. According to the Black Eagle military rules, civil and military officials must participate in the morning training of the troops. In the past two years, regardless of wind, frost, rain, snow, or sunny weather, Zhao Pu has participated in the training according to the rules. Even during his time in Lian County, he strictly abides by this order and participates in the training with the soldiers of Xiong Camp. Zhao Pu and Liu Chengtong, Meng Shu, Shen Huaijing and other civil servants have gradually become civil and military personnel.

The Black Eagle Army left many beautiful memories for Zhao Pu for two years. When Lingzhou City gradually disappeared behind him, Zhao Pu sighed heavily.

In the third year of Xiande, Zhao Pu and Zhao Kuangyin met in Huainan and were in a similar mood, so they became brothers of different surnames. Zhao Pu learned a lot. Zhao Kuangyin, the first brave general in the front office of the Palace, was very generous and chivalrous, and had the appearance of an emperor. Since the Five Dynasties, the emperor has only been the "Guan of Luoyang". Whoever has a strong army in his hands can be able to compete for the Central Plains, Liang, Tang, Jin, Han, and Zhou dynasties. This truth has been verified, and Zhao Pu had the intention to assist Zhao Kuangyin. After coming to Hou Dayong's tent, Zhao Pu still maintained close contact with Zhao Kuangyin and often had letters. Zhao Kuangyin was very interested in the Black Diao Army, and Zhao Pu often introduced the situation of the Black Diao Army in his letters.

With the successive victory of the Black Eagle Army in the northwest battlefield, Zhao Pu also admired Hou Dayong more and more, and Zhao Pu hesitated between Hou Dayong and Zhao Kuangyin.

Although the Black Eagle Army was strong, it was located in the northwest and far from the center of the regime. The political situation has always been the imperial guards in the central area. No matter how strong the border troops are, they can only dominate one side and cannot control the national situation. Zhao Kuangyin has a high prestige among the imperial guards, very similar to Guo Wei, the Taizu of the dynasty. As the saying goes, the moon will be obtained first when approaching the water. If you want to succeed, you must be Zhao Kuangyin.

In the end, Zhao Pu chose Zhao Kuangyin.

Zhao Pu and his party were all fast horses and headed south along the Maling River. There were inns along the way to provide accommodation, and they soon arrived at Hezhong Prefecture.

Luoshui, Wuding River, and Yellow River all have to cross Hezhong Prefecture. There are many merchants passing by Hezhong Prefecture. Although the Great Zhou Dynasty had a strong revival, there were still some thieves who were dependent on the mountains and rivers and drank waters on the water. The yamen repeatedly conquered and conquered the Hezhong Prefecture's terrorists, but even used the thieves who were slim as fish and loaches, leaving the government troops nowhere to focus. Fortunately, the thieves were all locals and had always only seek wealth but not hurt people. The yamen had no choice but to acquiesce to their existence.

Late at night on July 25, the sky was as if it was broken by lightning, and the downpours and rainstorms ran rampant for the whole night, and the Wuding River water surged. The residents on both sides of the Yellow River were in their hearts again.

Liangshan Inn is the best inn outside Hezhong Prefecture City. At the beginning of the fourth year of Xiande, the houses were renovated. Although it was raining heavily, there was no leak in the house.

Liangshan Post Station has received countless high-ranking officials from all over the country, and extremely special officials like Zhao Pu are even more like crucian carp crossing the river. Zhao Pu came from a family of minor officials and knew very well about the world. He found the official secretary and sent him several Zhou Yuantongbao, and soon got into a close relationship with Zhu Yicheng. Zhu Yicheng asked Zhao Pu to live in a small courtyard in a separate area and generously sent two fresh lamb legs.

A follower of Zhao Pu learned the good skills of cooking mutton in Lian County. He went to Hezhongfu to buy some seasonings and cooked a large pot of fragrant mutton soup. Zhu Yicheng was a man with a big belly and had always loved to drink a sip. He did not expect that mutton soup would be so fragrant. Although the slander was hooked out of his stomach through the wall, Zhu Yicheng brought a can of old wine from a rich shop. He shook and swayed to the small yard where Zhao Pu lived.

While he was having a full meal, a lean young man came to the yard and said from a distance: "What a fragrant broth, why don't Zhu Yicheng invite Sanlang if he has wonderful food?"

Sanlang was a military officer in Hezhong Prefecture. He came to Hezhong Prefecture from Xuzhou two years ago. He was versatile and could speak from all over the world. Sanlang and Zhu Yicheng were also excellent friends. They often ate, drink and have fun together, and sometimes went to Miaoxiang Tower to have a romantic and happy life.

Zhu Yicheng laughed and scolded: "Who did I say it is? It turns out to be Sanlang. You are so lucky. Come and taste the good taste outside the frontier."

Sanlang was not polite and sat down generously. Zhao Pu, Sanlang and Zhu Yicheng had similar status, and they were both knowledgeable people. After a few glasses of wine, everyone became good friends who could talk about everything.

Sanlang and Zhu Yicheng were both drunk, and Zhao Pu was very drunk. When he saw them off, he sat in the courtyard for a while.

At this time, the moonlight shone through the clouds, and the faint light shone on the earth. Crickets chirped among the weeds. What a summer night view. Zhao Pu, who should have been happy, was a little upset. After taking a bath, he stood in front of the window and looked at the dark and distant place. Suddenly lightning fell from the sky, followed by a thunder and heavy rain.

The next day, the rain passed by the sky and the air was extremely fresh.

Zhao Pu changed into a long blue round neck gown, tied a belt with a jade pendant, wore a horse whip, and a three-foot green breeze that followed him for many years. More than a dozen subordinates did not change their clothes, wore black eagle army soft armor, straddled the Hou family knife, each carrying a short bow and thirty eagle feather arrows.

Just ten miles away from Liangshan Post Station, a rather dense forest appeared, and the official road became much narrower here. Walking through the rivers and lakes, there has always been a saying of "not entering the forest". Zhao Pu reminded his subordinates with some vigilance: "After drinking, Zhu Yicheng once said that Hezhong Prefecture has not been very peaceful recently, and two bandits of robbers have been active very frequently, so everyone cheer up."

More than ten subordinates drew the Hou family's sword, three of them explored the way forward, two of them broke the back, and nine people surrounded Zhao Pu.

After walking in the forest for a while, there were more and more tall trees covering the sky and the sun. There was a scorching sun outside, but the wind in the forest was blowing.

Suddenly, a strange scream sounded above his head, and dozens of iron arrows were shot down from the top of the tree. The iron arrows came very rapidly and had a very strange angle. Zhao Pu and others focused all their attention in the deep forest, and they completely thought that the attackers would be hidden at the top of the tree. After the rain of arrows, Zhao Pu and his group of fifteen were all caught. Zhao Pu was hit by seven arrows, and three arrows shot at the vital point. When he turned over and fell, he sighed: He didn't expect Zhao Pu to die here.

A sharp roar sounded from the tree again, and forty or fifty masked men slid down from the tree. The thieves who were blocking the road were all wearing the clothes of the people and were hung with various knives. There were shovels, sickles, ring-headed knives, machetes, and even kitchen knives. Unlike ordinary thieves, they had bows and arrows in their hands, and these bows were nothing special. They were all bows used by ordinary hunters and official troops.

The leader was wearing tight soft armor and covered with a gray cloth cover on his face. He quickly walked to Zhao Pu and tried Zhao Pu's breath with his hands. Zhao Pu was already breathing completely.

A strong man walked around the field, walked to the soft-armored man and said, "The commander, all are dead."

The soft-armed man was the military sanlang of Hezhong Prefecture. He nodded and said, "Search away all the property, put it in a cloth bag, and transport it away quickly and buried it." After that, he put his hands behind his back and ignored the strong man again.

The strong man respected Saburo very much. After receiving the order, he immediately took someone to pack the body in a cloth bag. The two men poured out some soil similar to the floating soil of the official road from a jar behind him, covering the blood, and pedaling tightly with their feet. These men's hands and feet were very neat. After a while, the scene was cleaned up.

Sanlang whispered to himself: "Brother Zhao Pu, you are also a good man. Don't blame Sanlang for being ruthless. Life is like a battlefield. Winning and losing are fate. Please accept it."

The thieves came suddenly and went faster. They entered the dense forest. After a while, the forest returned to peace. It was like a drop of water falling into a river without causing a ripples, and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

A few days later, "Zheng He No. 3" took off from Daliang City and headed straight for Lingzhou.

After Fang Dangdu surrendered to the Black Eagle Army, Shi Gaojin was left in Jingyuan City by Hou Dayong to assist the guard general Tiechuanyuan to manage Fangdang tribe members in the city. Although Shi Gaojin wanted to meet his daughter, there was no general in charge. Although he was his father-in-law, he did not dare to leave Jingyuan City easily. After Shi Gao Yueming gave birth to his daughter, Hou Dayong issued an order asking Shi Gaojin to meet in Lingzhou City.

Hou Dayong's name has become a synonym for viciousness among the Fangdang tribesmen. When the tribesmen curse each other, they often say: You meet Hou Dayong when you go out today.

Shi Gaojin's evaluation of Hou Dayong was of course much more objective. He often sighed at Fangdangren's fate: Just when Fangdang tribes fought repeatedly in the south and north and their strength was greatly improved, he met Hou Dayong, a powerful general who was born in the Great Zhou Dynasty. This was a crime of God's will, not a war.

On the way from Jingyuan City to Lingzhou, Shi Gaojin always circled the three words "Hou Dayong". He was respectful and curious about this son-in-law who had not met.

After Shi Gaojin stepped into Lingzhou, the prosperity in the city surprised him. Although Shi Gaojin was a Dangxiang person, he was forced by his clan members to escape from his homeland and traveled around the world, and had seen some worlds. He had been to Lingzhou City several times. In his impression, Lingzhou City was a military city with a strong city, easy to defend and difficult to attack. However, the prosperity was far inferior to the city in the hinterland of the Central Plains. At this time, the smoke of gunpowder had not yet dissipated. Lingzhou City was already crowded with merchants, with shops in the city, and pedestrians looked calm and walking through the shops was quite leisurely.

Shi Gaojin originally thought that Hou Dayong was just a powerful general, but he did not expect that Lingzhou City under his rule was so prosperous. Although it was not as prosperous as Daliang, it was not inferior to the ordinary famous city of the Central Plains. Shi Gaojin was Fang Dangming's confidant aide, and the local affairs of Tongxin City were mostly handled by Shi Gaojin. He knew the difficulty of managing a city. The scene in Lingzhou was really beyond Shi Gaojin's expectations.

After settling down in the guest room, having supper, and cleaning it hastily. It was already evening. Shi Gaojin originally planned to go to Hou Dayong's mansion again tomorrow, but he was eager to miss his daughter, so he came to Hou Dayong's mansion in the evening.

The guards in the courtyard had known that Shi Gaoyueming's father was coming, and after reporting his name, they soon arrived at the gate of the inner courtyard.

In the inner courtyard, Hou Dayong held his half-month-old daughter and stood in the middle of the yard enjoying the beautiful scenery of the setting sun. Of course, his daughter Xiaoqing only cares about sleeping with her head covering. No matter how beautiful the scenery is, it is meaningless to her.

The delicate little face of his daughter Xiaoqing appeared beautifully rose-red under the fiery sunset. Hou Dayong carefully hugged Xiaoqing, his eyes full of love. Shi Gaoyueming stood beside Hou Dayong, looking at the father and daughter with a smile. Suddenly a stream of milk flowed out, wetting a large piece of the clothes on his chest.

The habit of women in the confinement period in the room is different from that in the Central Plains women. They have to get out of bed and walk around after seven days, which is in line with the view of modern medicine, so Hou Dayong often accompanied her for a walk in the yard.

"My milk has flowed out. I'll feed her to me."

"Xiaoqing hasn't woken up yet, so I'll feed her later." Hou Dayong smiled, "I'll help Xiaoqing feed her."

Hearing Hou Dayong's teasing, a red cloud appeared on Shi Gaoyueming's fat round face. She looked at Hou Dayong with tenderness with her sky blue eyes and said, "It's so annoying." Then she smiled and said, "Xiaoqing is smarter than the children I've ever seen. Even if she falls asleep, she will suck hard when she smells milk, and she will look the same as you."
Chapter completed!