Chapter 418: Broken Leaf Cut Silver (Part 2)

At dusk, Guo Muzheng had dinner with the Bai family. This was a time when he felt extremely warm. Guo Mu's father-in-law was named Bai Sheng. He was nearly fifty years old. He was a standard businessman. He was smart and capable and good at calculating. He was born in poverty and worked as a peddler for 30 years. He walked around the streets and raised three children. Now that he is getting older this year, he can no longer run, so he is ready to go back to his hometown and return to his country and receive twenty acres of land under the government for retirement, but he is reluctant to give up on his business for the rest of his life.

At this moment, he saw the government's propaganda that immigrating to Shaye can get two hectares of land and a new house. Bai Sheng immediately realized that this was an opportunity. He and his wife could open a shop and farm the land for the eldest son to farm. Wouldn't it be a killing two birds with one stone? In this way, Bai Sheng's family signed up to Shaye.

Bai Sheng has three children, the eldest son is 25 years old this year, he has married and has a two-year-old son. He is responsible for taking care of two hectares of land in his family, and has hired two Turkic people to help farm. The second is his daughter Bai Fang, who is seventeen years old this year, and is about to become Mrs. Guo; the third is his son, who is only fourteen years old this year. After attending school for a few years, he stayed in the store to help, but was ordered by the official of the Xueye to send him to school.

Guo Mu is also from poor background and is from Fenzhou. If his great-grandfather and the Bai family are still a little bit of a beating relative, Guo Mu and the Bai family get along very well. At this moment, he leaned comfortably on the soft pads specially prepared for him by his fiancée. While drinking with his father-in-law, his fiancée was busy serving dishes and adding food.

Bai Sheng coughed, and he picked up a glass of wine and smiled at his prospective son-in-law, "Since Wenxing has returned, I don't think the marriage will be delayed anymore. I have asked someone to calculate. September 20th is a good day. Let's invite some neighbors and friends to get the wedding done!"

Guo Mu drank the wine in one sip. He calculated that after September 20th, he had to set up his house briefly and hired a few colleagues. Time was a little tight, so he said, "It's better to have two days later. I'll make the house simple."

"Okay! September 25th is also a good day." Bai Sheng waved his hand with a smile, "Actually, I have prepared your new house long ago, but marriage is a big deal, so we can't be careless. We will set it on September 25th."

Guo Mu was overjoyed and quickly stood up and bowed, "Thank you, Father-in-law!"

"His father, someone came to find Wenxing, it seemed to be a business." At this time, the old wife's voice suddenly came from the shop in front.

Guo Mu was stunned. Who came to find him at this time? He quickly walked out of the store and saw a yamen runner standing outside the store. Seeing him coming out, the yamen runner immediately stepped forward and bowed: "Governor Guo, General, please invite him!"

"What's the matter with me, the General?"

"I don't know, but the general is very anxious and asked Guo to go immediately."

Although Guo Mu was concerned about the beauty, he did not dare to neglect his business. He went back to the house and said, then hurried to the governor of Suoye. As soon as he entered the door, he saw more than a dozen people sitting in the house, all of Suoye's military and political leaders. Cao Hanchen sat on the head, lowering his head and thinking about something?

When one of the people saw him come in, he said to Cao Hanchen: "General, Guo Zhengjun has arrived."

When Cao Hanchen saw him coming in, he immediately straightened his waist and said, "Since you have already arrived, the meeting will begin."

He paused for a moment, and when Guo Mu sat down, he continued: "I received a red express from the court this afternoon. The court received the exact news that a group of the former vassal Huihe, the Geluo people, had gone south and met with the Geluo native sect in the north of ours. The court asked us to be wary of the possibility of the new Geluo people occupying the Daqing Pond Basin, including our Broken Leaf, and especially protecting the Broken Leaf Silver Mine from any mistakes. For this reason, the emperor specially ordered me to guard Broken Leaf for another two years to improve Broken Leaf's defense."

He glanced at everyone and said with an extremely serious expression: "Everyone, we only have 10,000 Tang troops in Broken Leaf, and hundreds of thousands of Gelu people. Although they were hit by Tang troops in Beiting, they have gradually recovered their vitality over the years, and they have the support of the Great Cannibal behind their backs. What the court is really worried about is that the Great Cannibal might fake the Gelu people to pull out the nail, Broken Leaf, so from today on, Broken Leaf will enter a wartime state. What do you have to add?"

"I'll talk about something." The scout commander Wang Erhan stood up and saluted Cao Hanchen, and then said to everyone: "Our scout has just returned from Yibohai. The climate in the north this year is abnormal. In early September, it was snowing heavily north of Yibohai. It is said that many of the herdsmen of the Khikas had no time to withdraw and were frozen to death. This time the climate abnormality will inevitably affect the people of Gelulu. I suggest that the construction of castles north of the Qing pond should be accelerated immediately."

"This is what the emperor asked me to perfect the defense of Broken Leaf."

Cao Hanchen waved his hand and said, "We cannot passively guard the Saiye City. We must keep the possible invasion of the Geluo people hundreds of miles away, so I decided to reduce the scale of silver mining and concentrate on building four castles, Xuanwu, Vermillion Bird, White Tiger and Canglong before winter comes."

After saying that, Cao Hanchen deployed the responsibilities of each person one by one, and everyone took the order together, and the meeting ended. Just as Guo Mu was about to leave, Cao Hanchen called him, "Guo Jun, wait a moment."

Guo Mu stayed and waited for everyone to leave. Cao Hanchen took out a document and apologized: "I shouldn't have let you go out again, but the King of the Military Officer Wang Jun was seriously ill, so you can only go for him."

Guo Mu felt aroused in his heart. He heard the implicit meaning of the governor, and he actually wanted to take over as the governor. Suoye is a governor who is a military-political government. It is different from the governor's prefecture in the mainland in terms of official position. Suoye is the chief minister of the mainland prefecture. He is in charge of government affairs. He is the immediate superior of Cao's military affairs in the household under Guo Mu. Wang Ming, the current supervisor of the military officer, is old and often sick. He has submitted his resignation not long ago. Although Guo Mu has not been to Suoye for a long time, he is smart and capable, and is also a Jinshi. Cao Hanchen does have the intention to promote him.

Seeing that he had guessed his intention, Cao Hanchen smiled and said, "Mr. Liu, the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue of the Court, is about to arrive in Shule to inspect the newly built silver coin yard. The commander ordered our relevant officials to go to Shule to report their duties. He was supposed to be the director of the military officer, but he had submitted his resignation and was seriously ill and could not travel a long distance, so he could only entrust you to work harder."

Although Guo Mu is about to get married, this matter is related to his future and he cannot refuse. Fortunately, he just went to Shule and could return in almost half a month. Guo Mu thought for a while and asked, "When will I set off?"

Cao Hanchen thought for a while and said, "Mr. Liu may be at Shule at the end of the month. You can do some private matters first and set off in five days. There are two other things that you have to handle together."

"Please give orders to the general."

"Shule built a silver coin shop, but there was no crude silver inventory. The general told us to transport some crude silver, so this time you can escort 200,000 kilograms of crude silver to Shule."

This matter was just a way, but Cao Hanchen considered the second thing. He thought for a while and then said slowly: "We have two young guests here, and you must be responsible for sending them to Shule safely."

"Disciple?" Guo Mu was a little surprised.

"Yes! Two young distinguished guests."

On September 22, Guo Mu bid farewell to his newlywed wife and escorted 200,000 kilograms of thick silver with a thousand cavalry to Shule. The 200,000 kilograms of silver were loaded on 300 carriages. The carriages transporting silver were also specially made. The four wheels and axles were made of iron, and they were solid and clever. The wooden carriage was wrapped in thick iron sheets. Each carriage was pulled by four horses. It could travel eighty miles a day on the flat Golden Dragon Road, and it would take about ten days to get to Shule.

Coincidentally, the army generals who traveled with Guo Mu this time were still Han Yue’s 1,000 cavalry teams. However, they not only protected the silver, but also escorted two young guests back to Shule.

One of the two young guests is Cui Yuan's eldest grandson Cui Yao, who is fifteen years old this year, and the other is Shi Yang, the current emperor's adopted son, who is fourteen years old this year. Cui Yao is a student at the Imperial College. This time he went to Sai Ye to complete his policy: the influence of Sai Ye silver mine on the Tang Dynasty's tax system, while Shi Yang is Cui Yao's guard and companion.

If we only look at the appearance, we can't tell the real age of them. Cui Yao's figure inherited the height of the Cui family. He has been known for his youth since childhood. Under the careful education of his grandfather Cui Yuan, he even passed 244 in the subject system exam three years ago. He almost passed the Jinshi exam. He was immediately admitted to the Imperial College and became a formal student of the Imperial College. Although he is fifteen years old, he is always steady and has a mentality far exceeding that of a twenty-five-year-old adult.

Shi Yang was the adopted son of Emperor Li Huan of the Tang Dynasty in Chenliusuo. He was only fourteen years old, but he was only half a head shorter than his adoptive father. He was agile and skilled in archery and horses. Although he was a prince, he was a formal cavalry in the Tianqi Camp. He had accumulated merits and was promoted to the commander of the sergeant over the past three years. He could be said to be the youngest commander of the Tang Dynasty. Moreover, he had no title. His sister Shi Bailing was named Princess Bailing, and he was just a soldier. He was wearing armor, a steel crossbow on his back, a cross-body cross-body cross-body, and his waist was always straight. There was a kind of tenacity and maturity in his eyes that was inconsistent with his age.

Among them, Cui Yao was very cheerful. He had a good relationship with Bai Juyi and Liu Zongyuan. With this relationship, he and Guo Mu soon became familiar with each other. He was very interested in asking questions. Along the way, he always heard all kinds of questions about him, the customs of the Turks, the discovery of the Shattered Leaf Silver Mine, the construction of the Golden Dragon Road, the similarities and similarities of merchants from various countries, etc., and he had no airs at all. He was respectful and polite to everyone who answered his questions, even soldiers and porters.

Compared to Cui Yao's cheerful and easy-to-question, Shi Yang was completely opposite. Perhaps he had traveled thousands of miles in half a year, and on the journey was more like facing the vast Gobi Desert and boundless deserts and grasslands. In the deserted loneliness, he became even more silent. In Guo Mu's memory, he seemed to have never seen him say a word, and he never introduced himself. Except for Cui Yao and Guo Mu, no one knew his true identity. Despite this, the soldiers still liked him more. Perhaps he had the best temperament of a soldier, especially his steel crossbow hanging on his back, which meant that he was the most elite cavalry team from the Tang Dynasty.

The existence of two completely different teenagers has added many topics to the journey.

Three hundred carriages stretched for several miles and drove on the endless grassland. On that night, the convoy arrived at the Zhenzhu River. The Zhenzhu River was desolate in late autumn. The black river water gently patted the shore. Half a bright moon was passing through the thin clouds. The grassland sometimes had silver light on the ground, and sometimes a heavy darkness.

Although the night view in late autumn is desolate, the banks of the Zhenzhu River are extremely lively. The silver caravan convoy encountered two caravans, one from Persia and the other from Kangguo. More than 700 camels were crowded with camping sites. The bridge of the Zhenzhu River is still twenty miles away. At this time, the night was already late, and the north wind was blowing, and the howling of wolves came faintly on the hills in the distance.

At this time, the two scouts galloped from the darkness. They whispered a few words to Han Yue. Han Yue's face changed drastically, and he urged his horse to catch up with Guo Mu, and said anxiously: "Governor Guo, something happened!"

"What's the matter?" Guo Mu saw that his face looked very ugly, and he also beat a small drum in his heart.

"A cavalry of the Gloru people was found thirty miles away, with about 3,000 people rushing towards this side."

"What!" Guo Mu's face turned pale, "Three Thousand Cavalry", but they only had one thousand cavalry, and one against three, how could they resist it?

"This, how could this happen, never happened, and we didn't find it along the way."

Han Yue shook his head, "The Geluo people will come sooner or later, but I guess they don't know we are there too."

Along the way, they were very cautious and sent scouts to explore along the way. They did not find anyone following them. But now three thousand cavalrymen of Gelulu suddenly appeared. The only explanation was that Gelulu people came to these two business trips.

Guo Mu did not pay attention to these details. He was in a mess. He was not only responsible for the safety of 200,000 kilograms of official silver, but more importantly, two guests. Before leaving, the general repeatedly reminded the two of them to have special identities and to let him take good care of them. But now the Geluo people are actually here. This is something that has never happened before. Why did he meet them?

Guo Mu looked at the lively business trip not far away, and suddenly had an idea in his mind. He hurriedly said to Han Yue: "If we leave quickly, we might be able to avoid Gelu people."

Han Yue nodded slightly, "I have this kind of plan, too."

Suddenly, a voice came from beside him, "Guo Jun, General Han, I wonder if I can make a word."

The two were startled and saw Cui and Shi appearing behind them at some point. They were actually not far away. Cui Yao discovered the panic of the scout and Han Yue's nervousness, so he was about to come forward to ask, but he happened to hear their conversation.

Shi Yang remained silent, but Cui Yao bowed and smiled, "If the Gelulu people attacked the caravan, they would definitely know that we were not able to escape. Instead of being chased by them, it would be better to change at the moment."

"You are a soldier in the Tang Dynasty. Is your knife a decoration?" Shi Yang, who had never spoken, suddenly spoke, and he gave this sentence directly to Han Yue.

Han Yue felt ashamed. He was a Tang soldier and a war-produced Tang soldier. However, a young man covered his hot face. He straightened his waist and responded in a deep voice: "I don't want to escape, I just want to send someone to escort you first."

"I am the commander of Tianqi Camp. I will be dealt with by military law before the battle." Shi Yang took off the steel crossbow on his back, and put a crossbow arrow on extremely quickly and skillfully, and said decisively: "If you fight, I am willing to accept the command of Captain Han."

Han Yue looked at him in surprise. He suddenly felt the decisive and fortitude of the young soldier in front of him. He nodded solemnly, "Okay! I'm willing to fight side by side with you."

"I also have a reason to stay." Cui Yao, who was next to him, smiled and said, "If I escort me away, it will disperse the already limited military strength of the Tang army. Furthermore, if the Geluo people surrounded me, I would be even more dangerous, so I would rather stay. I have also practiced bows and horses, and I am confident that I can protect myself, and maybe I can be a counselor."

"Okay! Stay here too, let's teach these jackals a lesson." Han Yue was infected by the calmness and confidence of the two. There were only 3,000 people from the other party, and he might not be able to resist. He suddenly remembered something and turned his head to look at Guo Mu. He was the final decision.

The three of them looked at Guo Mu silently, waiting for his decision. At this moment, a courage that had never been before suddenly poured into Guo Mu's heart, and the desire to serve the country was ignited in his heart. At this moment, his newlywed wife was also left behind. He nodded solemnly and said word by word: "We will fight this battle!"

The two caravan leaders listened to Guo Mu's notice with pale faces. The Gelulu people were coming to attack them. They were a nation that was a hundred times more cruel than the wild wolf. Everything was gone where they passed.

"We have paid taxes to the Tang Empire, you will protect us, right?" The leader of the Kangguo caravan reacted first. The Tang cavalry team stood in front of him. He expressed his wish in stuttering Chinese.

The Persian merchant could also understand some Chinese, but he couldn't speak. He put his palms together and looked at the young Tang Dynasty official with a pleading look.

"Since we meet together, we should work together to overcome difficulties." Guo Mu sincerely told them about Tang Jun's strategy and finally said: "Although you will make some losses in property, we will help you make up for it. How about it! Are you willing to do it together?"

The two businessmen leaders looked at each other, and they didn't want to do it, but they seemed to have no choice.

Half the bright moon in the West has been swallowed up by a huge dark cloud, and the earth is pitch black, and the outline of Mount Uzman can be seen faintly in the distance, also disappeared into the black fog.

A black army swept down from Gaogang like mercury and rushed straight to the Golden Dragon Road three miles away. This was a tribe of the three tribes of the Gelulu tribe. The early arrival of the severe winter cut off their cattle and sheep for winter. They could only go south to make a living. However, the natural greed of the Gelulu people made them not only see the plump grassland, but also see a group of camel merchants loaded with goods and money. As early as when the Tubo people occupied Anxi, the Silk Road was forced to move northward. At that time, the Gelulu people were a group of evil wolves on the Silk Road and were repeatedly hated by Sogdian merchants.

But a fierce battle in Beiting many years ago put the Geluo people in a low tide. However, as time passed, the Geluo people's teenagers began to grow up, and the Geluo people's claws became sharp again.

The leader of this army was their chief named Dabul. They were all military and civilians, serving the people in their spare time and military in wartime. Every household had armor and swords. All their wealth, food, gold and silver, slaves, porcelain, and silk were stolen. This formed the greedy nature of the Gelu people.

Dapur's cold eyes had already seen the camp tent a mile away, and heard the anxious call of merchants, and the camel bells were sent from afar in the wind.

"Kill!" He screamed, and the sharp sword passed by in the darkness. Thousands of Geluo cavalrymen became crazy. They had no time to clean the battlefield, nor would they share the spoils. What they robbed was their own wealth. The cavalry formation was scattered, and the three thousand people seemed to be rolling in torrents. They rushed to the camping place. The business brigade had already escaped by camels, and the ground was full of discarded goods and boxes. The Geluo people fled wildly and split the boxes and snatched them. Thick cotton cloth, exquisite Sassanian silverware, glassware from the West, and bags of gold coins from big food, discarded among countless bricks and stones. The Geluo people were boiling.

Suddenly, someone screamed. Many long strips on the ground were not bricks and stones, but were actually silver ingots, each weighing at least twenty kilograms. It was distributed on the two or three miles long river beach. The greedy nature of the Gelulu people was completely aroused. They forgot everything, jumped off their war horses and searched on the river bank, stuffed the heavy silver ingots into their arms and into their skins. The team grew longer and longer, and the two or three miles of river was covered with Gelulu people who were exploring treasures.

Chief Dapur grabbed two bags of big food gold coins and five Sassanian silver lamps. As the silver ingots were discovered, he also threw himself into the crazy collection. He had already grabbed five silver ingots, weighing hundreds of pounds, and his horse could hardly carry them. At this time, he began to recall some thoughts, what did these merchants bring so many silver ingots to do? And they were all coarse silver that had not been refined. These coarse silver should be. He seemed to have thought of something, and hurriedly turned over a piece of silver ingot. There was indeed a line of characters cast on it. With the torch, he saw the word Tang.

"Not good!" Dabul yelled, "Get on the horse quickly! Get on the horse quickly! There is a Tang army."

But it was too late. In the darkness, a Tang army came silently. Arrows were like rain, and densely shot towards the Gelulu people by the river. The cry of the arrows suddenly sounded. The Tang army's cavalry rushed over like a thunderous torrent. They galloped on the river bank, and the swords in their hands were chopping the Gelu people. The war horses on the river bank fled in scattered and fled. Their masters chased after them desperately, but as a group of Tang cavalry rushed past, the heads rolled on the ground.

The Gelulu people who were riding on horses began to retreat, but they were already scared. Many years ago, the Tang army had already killed them in Beiting. Soon, the retreat turned into a retreat. They fled everywhere, throwing away the heavy silver pieces and the cotton cloth that was in the way. They shouted in fear and ran around like crazy. They were soon beheaded by the Tang army and fell to the ground and died.

The moon has come out. Under the cold moonlight, the area along the river is like a hell on earth. Corpse is everywhere, broken limbs and broken arms can be seen everywhere, and the heads of the Geluo people are everywhere.

The battlefield at this moment has become a one-sided massacre. The Tang army is well-trained and has neat formation. One thousand people are divided into ten teams, killing the Gelulu people in pieces like a destruction. Especially the very young Tang army, who holds a steel crossbow in his hand and is extremely skilled in riding and shooting. Every arrow shot out, a Gelulu people must have fallen down screaming and in a moment, forty or fifty people were killed.

"Awesome!" The commander Han Yue was so shocked that he stuck out his tongue.

Shi Yang had shot out two pots of sixty crossbow arrows. He raised the steel crossbow back and immediately looked for the big prey coldly. Suddenly, he saw more than a dozen Geluo cavalrymen surrounded a man with the appearance of a leader and fled to the northeast. He chased after him. Han Yue was afraid that he would make a mistake, so he quickly led a team of Tang troops to follow closely.

Shi Yang's horse was an Arab horse, very fast, as if it was flying in the clouds and mist. He caught up with the enemy chieftain in a moment. The person he was pursuing was the chief Dabul. Dabul fled in panic. He heard the sound of horse hooves chasing behind him, and couldn't help but glance backwards secretly. Seeing that there was only one Tang soldier, he immediately stopped the horse and shouted to the people around him: "Kill him!"

More than a dozen Gelulu people rushed forward, and Shi Yang was not afraid. He took advantage of his extremely fast horse speed and slashed with his gun and knife. In an instant, five Gelulu cavalry turned over and fell off the horse. At this time, Han Yue had already led people to chase him. Seeing that the situation was not good, several other Gelulu cavalry shouted, turned around and fled.

At this time, Dabul had already escaped fifty steps away, and the figure was blurred. Shi Yang waved his hand to stop the Tang army who was about to pursue. He took a bow, picked up a pot of arrows from the ground, pulled the arrow to put the bow, and the bowstring gradually pulled into a full moon. He loosened his hand, and an arrow broke out and crossed the night sky like lightning, and even shot through Dabul's neck with an arrow. Dabul grabbed the arrow shaft that was coming out of his neck and slowly fell down from the horse.

As the sky gradually became bright, the Tang cavalry guarding the silver carriage had already walked ten miles away, and two business brigades followed them closely. In the distance, the burned corpses of the Geluo people were still emitting rolling black smoke. After a ruthless killing, only more than one hundred Geluo people fled back to the north, and none of them were all killed by the Tang army. In terms of the credit book, Shi Yang even topped the list with a brilliant record of killing 67 enemies.

At this moment, the young cavalry was lowering his head and saying nothing, as if he was thinking about something big, and walked several miles, and the Zhenzhu River Bridge ahead was clearly visible.

"I decided to stay in Broken Leaf!" Shi Yang finally said his final decision. He raised his head and stared at Cui Yao, and said in a firm tone he had never had before: "Please tell the emperor that I have found my own world."

Cui Yao suddenly understood his decision. He nodded silently, patted his shoulder and smiled slightly, "Take care!"

Shi Yang also smiled. This smile was so bright, just like the rising sun. He turned his horse's head, whipped a whip, and galloped towards Saiye City.
Chapter completed!