Shuozhou, Hushan Pass.
The warriors held crossbows and walked slowly on the city wall, pacing back and forth. The checkpoint door was closed tightly, and bursts of killing sounds could be heard from inside.
A sharp-eyed warrior saw the rising dust in the distance at a glance, and immediately someone beat the war drum. The next moment, a large number of warriors rushed to the city wall, raised their weapons, and aimed at the outside of the city.
Guan Wei put on his clothes and hurried up to the city wall, looking into the distance.
At present, Yang Zhong's troops appear in various places from time to time, attacking many checkpoints and garrison towns on the frontier. Although there has not been a formal attack here in Shuozhou, the garrison did not dare to neglect. In a short time, the soldiers were ready.
Preparation to fight and light the beacon.
The next moment, the knights appeared in the distance. The general waved the flag with the word "Kou", dressed like Qi Ren.
But the guard still didn't dare to believe it. He asked people to be prepared to light the beacon fire at any time, while he moved closer and stared at the pedestrians in the distance. They finally arrived at the city gate, and Kou flowed slowly
He walked out and looked at the guard on the tower.
"It's me!" "Open the city gate!"
Of course the guard knew Kou Liu. At this moment, he no longer hesitated and ordered the city gate to be opened. Kou Liu led many knights and quickly rushed into the checkpoint. The guard ran down the city wall with a smile, once again making people feel
After closing the door, he stepped forward to lead Kou Liu's horse.
Kou Liu looked around. The soldiers in the checkpoint were now in formation, as if they were facing a formidable enemy. The materials in the city were piled separately. Many protective preparations were made around the warehouses, trenches were dug, and there were trenches between the houses.
A high firewall was built in between... There are still arrows on the wooden target in the distance, and there are traces of trampling by horses on the ground.
Kou Liu looked around and couldn't help but nodded. The more he looked, the more satisfied he became.
"That's right. I didn't neglect the training. I was fully prepared for defense and handled it well just now." He looked at the guard general and said, "I will express your credit to General Anxi."
The guard general was overjoyed and hurriedly thanked him without even saying thank you.
"This is what subordinates should do. The general has sent people here several times to tell us to be careful and not to underestimate Yang Zhong... I have always kept this in mind and do not dare to be slow." Kou Liu then looked away.
There, there were more than thirty people standing there, all holding horses and staring at Kou Liu fiercely with expressionless faces.
They just stood there, looking out of place with the knights around them, and they didn't look like the same kind of people.
They were not the same kind of people to begin with. Shuozhou soldiers did not get along with them very well and did not accept them very much. However, they did not care about this and continued to stick together, just hoping to get the opportunity to make military achievements.
The guard met Kou Liu's eyes and looked at the Yecheng soldiers. His smile froze and he raised his eyebrows.
He hurriedly smiled and said: "These knights from Yecheng are living very well here. I have always obeyed the general's orders and have never treated him differently..." Kou Liuruo glanced at him meaningfully and asked if he treated him differently.
It can be seen from their positions at this moment that they don't play with others during the drills. However, this is not something incomprehensible.
If Shuozhou soldiers go to Yecheng, they will enjoy the same treatment. Kou Liu looked at those people and waved his hand.
The knights led their horses and swaggered to Kou Liu's side. In addition to the geographical issue, their own attitude was also the reason for being rejected. The elites in Yecheng naturally looked down on local soldiers.
Kou Liu said: "I came here under the general's order to gather soldiers from Yecheng and go to the frontier to fight Yang Zhong." "If you are afraid, you can stay."
"We are willing to go!"
A few leaders spoke quickly.
They came to the border fortress just to get a chance to make contributions. If they just stayed in the checkpoint, they would not get any military merit, and they would be ostracized by the local soldiers. So what else were they doing?
Moreover, they discovered that the knights Kou Liu brought here were almost all their old colleagues. It seemed that they were gathering them together to go out for a field battle.
Kou Liu immediately asked them to prepare. The general was a little shocked. He looked at the knights who went to prepare, and then secretly came to Kou Liu's side. "General Kou, the general wants to summon troops from Shuozhou, why not summon them?"
Us?"
Kou Liu said seriously: "Yang Zhong's attack is very fierce. Shuozhou must not make any mistakes. Naturally, you are needed to guard it." "Standing here, even if you don't encounter enemies, you have merit. Don't worry.
.”
The guard general quickly explained: "I am not greedy for military glory, I just want to contribute to the general..." "I have done a good job now, and I will tell the general truthfully."
"Thank you, General Kou!!"
The guard general became more enthusiastic and sent people to help the Yecheng soldiers prepare their bags. Kou Liu listened to his flattery, but his thoughts could not help but drift to Wuchuan in the distance.
He didn't know why, but his brother suddenly sent someone here, saying that he wanted to summon Yecheng soldiers to rush to Wuchuan as soon as possible. Is the military situation critical enough to require the use of these unreliable Yecheng soldiers?
Just when Kou Liu was thinking wildly, the guard also asked the same question.
"I heard that the puppet Zhou Dynasty was defeated many times in various places, but why did they call people from Shuozhou? Could it be that Yang Zhong stepped up his offensive?"
Kou Liu laughed loudly, "Don't worry too much, what does Yang Zhong mean? Everything at the frontier is as before, General Anxi is invincible, there will never be any mistakes!"...
"Yang Zhong is becoming more and more ferocious! General Anxi does not have enough troops to fight, but even the knights were killed! Otherwise, how could Kou Liu temporarily summon the knights to support? This frontier fortress is about to be defeated!"
"Gao Gong! Shuozhou is no longer safe! Let's retreat! I'll protect you and escape back to Jinyang for the time being! It's safe over there!"
Zu Jue was pale and trembling as he sat next to Gao Yan. When he spoke this way, Gao Yan was so frightened that he almost jumped up and dropped the books in his hands to the ground. He quickly got up and asked the servants to guard the door and not allow them to do so.
Others approach.
Then he looked at Zu Jue, with some dissatisfaction in his eyes, "How could you say such shocking things in front of others?!" "If it spread, wouldn't it damage the morale of the army?!"
Zu Jue said with a sad face, "Sooner or later the news will spread."
"That's not right. The battle report from the front clearly stated that Ben had a great victory. General Anxi defeated Yang Zhong, and Yang Zhong's offensive began to come to a halt. Why did you say it was so dangerous?" Zu Jue sighed.
"well."
"You are right, General Anxi did win the battle once, but how can Yang Zhong be easy to deal with? How much losses did General Anxi suffer in order to win this time?" "Border soldiers are distributed in various places, and they can go out to fight in the field.
Our army is not large to begin with. Yang Zhong has ten thousand elite troops and auxiliary troops, not to mention there are more than two hundred thousand Turks outside the Great Wall!"
"Yao Xiong can't hold it anymore. Beiheng is okay. Dongyan and other states have been conquered one after another. The Zhou people have led the Turks to the border towns of Hengzhou and have started a war with Zhang Heizu." "Yang Zhong sharpened his sword fiercely.
, summon the knights again and prepare to attack with all their strength."
"General Anxi couldn't hold it anymore, so he sent someone to ask Kou Liu to take the knights to support him. "Your Majesty, given the current situation, what else can we do except escape?"
Gao Yan frowned and said nothing. He remained silent for a long time, and then said resolutely: "I will never run away."
"If General Anxi is defeated, I will die with him."
"I am the governor appointed by the temple. If I save the land, I will live. If I lose the land, I will die. I will never complain!"
Zu Jue looked at him in astonishment, and suddenly sighed again, "You are determined to die with Shuozhou, but this can't help General Anxi. There are too few soldiers at the front, and General Anxi cannot lead the army to go out for war.
, unable to fight back, can only defend passively, which will be defeated by the enemy one by one. If there is a field army, they can go to various places for support at any time, how could the situation be so bad!"
Listening to Zu Jue's emotion, Gao Yan hurriedly said: "I still have hundreds of guards to let them go!"
Zu Jue was stunned and didn't speak. Looking at him, Gao Yan couldn't continue talking. He thought for a moment and said, "In this way, I will send someone to lead part of Shuozhou Army to support."
Zu Jue was shocked, "Your Majesty! How can this be done? If the enemy suddenly attacks the Shuozhou pass, we don't have enough troops, how can we withstand it?"
"Don't worry, just gather the people into the city, hold on to the city, and let the rest of the soldiers go to the border fortress. If the border is lost, no matter how many troops Shuozhou has, can they still stop Yang Zhong?"
Zu Jue's face was full of hesitation, "This, this is not appropriate! We need soldiers to protect us." "I have made up my mind!"
"If Zu Jun is afraid, you can flee to Sizhou first!" Zu Jue did not dare to speak, covered his face and left in shame.
But when he walked out of the mansion and got into his carriage, Zu Jue put down his hand, with an indescribable smile on his face. He liked this kind of old-fashioned good man, he was so easy to deal with.
After a few words, he asked him to take the initiative to weaken the military strength of the checkpoints near Shuozhou. Zu Jue rushed to Tian Zili's mansion with a smile.
Tian Zili was very busy, with all the officials surrounding him, it was difficult for Zu Jue to get in. Fortunately, Tian Zili saw him coming and temporarily asked the officials to leave. Zu Jue then came closer and saw
Tian Zili looked at the documents placed in front of him, glanced at them casually, and sat aside.
"The governor said that he would send some soldiers to the border fortress to support General Anxi."
"You prepare their marching food properly. The food collected in these days can allow them to escort them to General Anxi." Tian Zili frowned and looked at the weirdo in front of him.
Tian Zili has never seen such a strange person.
He knows everything, good or bad, and he does things without any sense of proportion, making it impossible to guess what he is thinking, but in the end he is able to connect. Until the end, you will never be able to see through what he wants to do.
Looking at Tian Zili's suspicious eyes, Zu Jue chuckled, "Of course I hinted him to do this, guess what my intention was?" "Did Grandfather weaken Shuozhou's military strength, could it be that he wanted to sacrifice Shuozhou to
To Pseudo Zhou?”
Zu Jue was stunned and immediately clapped his hands, "How smart!" "How did you know?"
Tian Zili immediately put his hand on the hilt of the sword, but Zu Jue shook his head, "You also read Zheng Daoqian's letter earlier. Could it be that you didn't see it?" "What did you see?"
"Wei Xiaokuan's idea... If you think about it carefully, he sent people to let the monks drive to play Gao Zhan, let Lou Rui, Gao Yun and others stay in Yecheng, let Duan Shao go to Pingyang, let Gao Ji sit in Si Xian, and let Gao Zhan go
Jinyang.”
Zu Jue put his finger in his mouth, sucked it, and then started making gestures on Tian Zili's case. "This is Jinyang, this is Sizhou, this is Pingyang, and this is Yecheng."
"Look, does this look like a man spreading his arms and legs and revealing his heart to the enemy?" "The generals under Yang Zhong's command, as well as the Turks, are entangled in the general at this moment."
"If Yang Zhongruo leads the troops, from here..."
Zu Jue tapped the case hard, and moved his hand straight towards Jinyang.
"If he bypasses Beishuo and breaks through several checkpoints in Shuozhou, will he fight all the way to Jinyang? The person sitting here is actually Gao Ji... Tian Zili immediately reacted, "Wei Xiaokuan wants to let
Yang Zhong captured Jinyang?!"
Zu Jue shook his head, "Yang Zhong's army is not large enough. It will be very difficult to defeat Jinyang. However, it is definitely enough to kill Gao Zhan. Gao Zhan is strong on the outside but hard on the inside. He looks strong."
Awesome, but actually not very capable, I bet you that if Yang Zhong approaches Jinyang, his first thought will definitely be to escape!"
"After Gao Zhan ascended the throne, he alienated the clan, the civil servants, and the nobles, and just doted on his monk Kai Kai all day long... Maybe everyone needs a chance." "Of course, if Yang Zhong can defeat Jinyang, kill him
Losing Gao Zhan would be a great blessing."
"It's hard to say anything. Anyway, it's just that Gao Zhan is having a hard time."
Zu Jue said excitedly: "And we need to be prepared for the aftermath. The power in the temple is about to change. If we can find a way to let Gao Jun and others take power, put Gao Zhan under house arrest, or even remove him, find someone to replace him!"
Do you think it is a great good thing for us?"
Tian Zili shook his head, "I don't know."
"It's just that if you weaken the troops at the checkpoint outside Shuozhou and let Yang Zhong come in, I'm afraid it won't be a good thing for the people along the way." Zu Jue raised his head and said displeasedly: "Women's
Benevolence."
"If such a tyrannical monarch holds power for one more day, tens of thousands more people will die. How many people died in the battle of Huangzhou? Yang Zhong led more than a thousand cavalry and killed all the way. No chickens or dogs were left behind, and none of them were killed.
Gao Zhan and He Shikai have killed a lot. Those who do great things must not hesitate, let alone be timid... When I first met with the general, the general also said that he is not afraid of killing people, let alone dead people! This is what he said!
"
"Now, whether you support or oppose, there is nothing you can do to change the situation." "But you don't have to worry, I won't let you bear any bad reputation!"
"I have earned a lot of bad reputation!"
"You just need to help me with my work. The most important thing at the moment is Gao Ji... we have to find a way." Sizhou.
The knights stood on the official road, divided into two neat rows. The official road was desolate, and the trees around it had been cut down.
In the gully beside the official road, you can see many corpses. Most of the bones are shapeless. The skulls are only the size of fists. They are piled up like this, and it is very cold. Gao Changgong frowned, he did not dare to turn around and look at those ravines.
.
After His Majesty came to power, he decided to implement benevolent policies, pardoning land taxes in many areas, allowing farmers to retain grain, and making them rich first. However, the temple had many things to do, and money and grain were needed everywhere, so it could only be slightly strengthened.
Endow.
The officials intensified their efforts and acted recklessly. They levied oral taxes many times within a year, and once lowered the age of oral taxes from seven to one year old... Having an extra child in a farmer's family does not bring joy, but endless hardship.
of pain and despair.
Due to repeated expropriations and extraordinary expropriations, farmers dare not have any more children, and those who have children have no choice but to live in the ravine.
They shouldn't be considered beasts. They just made a choice between dying alone or dying as a family. They threw their children and their hearts into the ravine, and they all died on that day.
Gao Anagong stood behind Gao Changgong, glanced at Gao Changgong, and stopped talking.
When he led the troops to the expedition, he was extremely happy and felt that this was a great opportunity to wash away his shame. However, Duan Shao then arranged for Gao Changgong to follow him. He was nominally his deputy general, but considering his status, how could he dare to send a
Do princes and kings use them as their deputy generals?
Everything was suppressed by others, and Gao Anahu was almost ignored. This made Gao Anahu very helpless, but he did not dare to turn his back. Fortunately, the suffering was finally over.
In the distance, a group of knights gathered around a carriage and rushed towards it. When he saw the carriage, Gao Anahu's eyes lit up and he took a step forward. The knights lined up around them, and the carriage slowly
Stop slowly.
A young man got out of the carriage.
His appearance is handsome, and he is modeled after Gao Zhan and others. He is tall and handsome in appearance.
Sometimes, Gao Anahu couldn't distinguish between these brothers. Among the second generation, only Emperor Wenxuan was the best to identify, and among the third generation, only Gao Yanzong was the best to identify.
The rest of them all had almost the same figure and the same face. They were all beautiful, but in different ways. Gao Ji looked at Gao Changgong at a glance, and Gao Changgong hurriedly stepped forward and said, "Uncle!!"
"Haha, long time no see." "How is your brother?"
The two exchanged pleasantries immediately, and Gao Anagong also smiled and stepped forward to greet him. Gao Ji glanced at him and forced a smile to respond. But Gao Anagong realized that he obviously did not treat him as much as Gao Changgong.
of cordiality.
They just entered the city and entered the official office. Gao Ji was talking to Gao Changgong all the time. When they entered the official office, Gao Ji was sitting in the upper seat, and Gao Anagong and Gao Changgong were sitting on both sides.
Gao Ji then asked about the local garrison situation. Gao Changgong answered hastily. Gao Ji nodded and showed a very understanding look. "Okay!"
“This couldn’t be better!”
Gao Anagong took the opportunity to serve wine. Gao Changgong did not drink. Gao Ji took a few bites alone. "Chang Gong, you have to go to Dingzhou."
?
"The Turks have entered Hengzhou. They will most likely bypass Shuozhou, loot the camp, and Dingzhou. Nothing can happen to Dingzhou. If I leave, you have to go and guard it." Gao Changgong frowned.
"Uncle, if you stay here alone, don't you have no manpower?"
"Don't worry, I heard that the temple will send someone to serve as the chief general, and I will be the deputy." Gao Changgong was even more surprised, "Who will be sent?"
Gao Ji scratched his head, "I don't know either..."
He suddenly turned his head and said, "Mother, you should know, right? Who was sent?" "Just tell me..."
"I know you don't like me, but how can brother be better than me..." "Oh, brother, I'm not talking about you..."
Immediately afterwards, Gao Jihu started chatting passionately with the people around him. He spoke very fast, and you couldn't hear what he was saying, and you didn't even know who he was talking to. Gao Changgong and Gao Anagong were talking to each other.
Chapter completed!