The author said: I will continue to update in the new week, thank you for your support!
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That night, the three brothers ordered the library to be sealed, and did not return to the military camp at the foot of the mountain. Instead, they spent the night on Yuhuang Peak. Zheng Xin wrote a letter of victory with great care and sent it directly to the Prince of Youyan's Mansion in Guangyang. At the same time, he wrote a letter and sent his trusted cavalry to invite the third brother Zheng Miao to exchange with Cui Nan and meet at Yuhuang Peak.
Although Cui Nan was a man of few words, he was very clear-headed. He knew that the four brothers had important matters to discuss and did not want to get involved. Without waiting for Zheng Miao to arrive, he gathered his personal soldiers and set off early the next morning.
Unexpectedly, only half a day after Cui Nan left, Zheng Miao had already arrived at the foot of Funiu Mountain with only a dozen trusted attendants by his side.
After hearing the news, Zheng Sen and his companions dressed up and came down the mountain to meet him. Halfway through, they met Zheng Miao. Before they could exchange greetings, Zheng Miao panted and said, "This is not a place to talk. Is there a secret place? I have something important to discuss with the three brothers."
Everyone knew that Zheng Miao was usually a gentleman and calm person, and they had never seen him so nervous. They knew there must be a reason for it, and they had no intention of taking him to appreciate the strange mountains and scenery on the top of Yuhuang Peak. They led him directly to a house on the main temple of Tianzun Sect.
Zheng Miao followed everyone into the house, then went out again to drive away the guards around him, and personally closed the door. He then let out a long sigh, took out a letter from his underwear, and respectfully handed it to Zheng Xin, saying, "My father has something to ask, and it's all in this letter. Please pass it around, brothers."
Zheng Xin knew that it was a letter from King Youyan, so he hurriedly took it with both hands respectfully, unfolded the paper and read it carefully. After pondering for a moment, he handed it to Zheng Sen.
Zheng Sen took it and only read half of it when he opened his mouth to swear: "I..." Seeing Zheng Xin raising his hand to stop him, he had to swallow the words he was about to say, patiently finished reading it, and handed it to Yizhi.
Qiu Yizi hurriedly took the letter and saw that it was written in neat and solemn small characters. It was undoubtedly written by Zheng Rong himself. However, he was shocked after reading the content.
It turned out that since Zheng Miao, Yizhi, Cui Nan and Wei Hu led their army south to quell the rebellion, they had captured more than 100,000 rebels. They did not know what to do with them, so they asked their father for instructions. After several discussions, King Zheng Rong of Youyan and his adviser Zhongli Kuang prepared a petition to request the Ministry of Revenue to approve the relocation of these 100,000 people to the border of Youyan to cultivate the newly reclaimed land. Unexpectedly, the Ministry of Revenue replied: "This Tianzun sect bandit has no king or father, has committed rebellion, and is unforgivable. All the officers and soldiers are ordered to kill them on the spot to eradicate the roots and leave no future troubles!"
Seeing this, Qiu Yi's eyes almost burst into anger. She managed to hold her temper and continued reading. However, Zheng Rong and Zhongli Kuang discussed it again and again and felt that this matter was absolutely not feasible. They saw that the King of Youyan wrote: "The rebels in Henan, except for a few evil cult rebels, are mostly good people. They took the risk because they had no livelihood. If they were to kill them without discrimination, it would be against the will of heaven, against the principles of the world, and against the evil. It is not what a minister should do, it is not allowed by human ethics, and it is not forgivable by human feelings."
These words really touched Qiu Yi's heart, and her eyes became moist when she saw King Youyan continued to write: The Youyan army must pack up immediately and evacuate Henan as soon as possible. There must be no delay.
He added: "Although this matter is against the imperial decree, I will still ask for orders from the imperial court. Upon seeing this letter, you should immediately lead your army and the captives back to Youyan. I have already arranged for the reception of the troops. There must not be any hesitation on this matter, otherwise more than a hundred thousand lives will be lost, and you will never be able to atone for your crime even if you die. Keep it secret." At the end was the signature and private seal of Zheng Rong, King of Youyan.
The meaning of the letter was very clear at this point, leaving no room for discussion for the four brothers. However, this matter was of great importance, so Qiu Yizhi read the letter again before handing it back to his eldest brother Zheng Xin, saying, "Since our foster father has written this letter, we can no longer hesitate and must act according to his orders. However, I ask my eldest brother to take charge of the matter."
Zheng Xin frowned, took the letter, and slowly folded it as usual. He thought for a while and said, "Yizhi is right. For now, we can only obey our father's orders. I am not talented enough, so I will give the order!"
The other three heard this and bowed in unison, saying, "We are willing to obey your orders, big brother!"
Zheng Xin cleared his throat and said, "Our army has captured many rioters, mostly on the western front. Fortunately, we have made preparations and have concentrated them on the border between Henan and Youyan. Third and fourth brothers, please return to the camp tonight. Do not identify their identities or ask for their opinions. Immediately, you will join forces with Generals Cui and Wei to break camp and take all the rioters to Youyan, and then make a long-term plan."
Zheng Miao and Yi Zhi heard this and said seriously, "Yes, sir!"
Zheng Xin nodded and continued, "Brother, we have thousands of captives here, as well as dozens of cult members. The property and weapons in the headquarters are also waiting to be counted. Second brother, gather the troops immediately, escort the captives, and gather the garrisons along the way. We must enter the Youyan territory within ten days. Brother, I will lead 300 personal soldiers and 2,000 central troops to wait for the local officials and troops in Henan to take over, and I will cover the rear for you brothers."
Zheng Miao was about to speak when Zheng Xin knew that he just wanted to cover for him. He said with a very serious expression, "I appreciate your kindness, but the situation is tense today and we can't afford to waste time arguing. I hope you and your brother Tongyi will have a safe journey and be careful. Don't let my father and me down!"
Zheng Xin's words were so sincere that the two men had nothing more to say. They just bowed again, said, "Take care," and then walked out of the house and went down the mountain.
Qiu Yizhi followed Zheng Rong to the grasslands to meet with Bohai Dali Khan. When he first entered the battlefield, he offered a clever plan to help the Han-Bohai coalition kill the arrogant Bishimi Khan and only escape with his life. Dali Khan was happy and gave Yizhi a few young horses of Ferghana. Yizhi was just a young boy at the time, so he didn't know how to raise horses. His adoptive father Zheng Rong adopted these horses in the stables of the palace for him. Zheng Rong had been fighting with the Turks for a long time, and of course he knew the importance of good horses on the grasslands. These horses were only used for breeding to improve the bloodline of Youyan war horses, and he himself was reluctant to ride them. But these Ferghana horses were given to Qiu Yizhi by Dali after all. Due to this relationship, Zheng Rong finally gave him one when Qiu Yizhi was 18 years old, which made the other three brothers envious and jealous for a few days.
Yizhi knew that the BMW he was riding was very powerful, so he discussed with Zheng Miao and decided that he would go back to the camp first to arrange matters. Zheng Miao would then lead his personal soldiers to move forward slowly. After meeting in one place, they would return to Youyan together.
Qiu Yizhi was going to act alone, which was naturally a bit risky, but Zheng Miao knew that his brother was stubborn but very smart and capable. He had walked the road from his camp to Yuhuangding before him, so there would be no accidents. So Zheng Miao had to let Yizhi go back to the camp first after repeated instructions, and he immediately assembled his troops and set off.
Yizhi had just left the camp when he suddenly remembered that there was another important matter that needed to be entrusted to him, so he turned his horse around again, found Zheng Miao, and said to him: "Third brother, don't forget, I seized countless cult books in the main temple of Yuhuangding, please help me bring them back. The eldest and second brothers already know about this, and the third brother will know it once he asks." After that, without waiting for Zheng Miao's consent, he kicked his horse's belly and left again.
This Ferghana horse was truly extraordinary. Without the need for a whip, it understood its master's anxious nature and ran north at full speed.
This sweat-blooded horse not only ran very fast, but also was extremely resistant to hunger and thirst. It ran all night and all day, resting for less than two hours in total, and arrived at Qiu Yi's base camp at dusk the next day. However, it was June at that time, and the sun was blazing. Blood oozed from the pores of this horse, staining its pure white hair with spots - it was worthy of the name "sweating blood"!
The officers guarding the camp saw from afar a lone rider galloping towards the camp gate, raising a cloud of dust. When the man got closer, they recognized him as Qiu Yizi, the adopted son of the King of Youyan, and hurriedly stepped forward to salute him. Seeing this, Qiu Yizi dismounted and said breathlessly, "No need to salute. Open the camp gate quickly. I have something important to deal with."
Seeing that he was speaking anxiously, the officer quickly ordered people to open the gate of the village, followed closely behind Qiu Yi, and said, "Your Highness, there is a man who wants to see you for a few days. Please decide whether to see him or not."
Qiu Yizi nodded and said, "I understand, but I have urgent matters to attend to, so I can't meet him. Please find out the identity of that person and report back calmly." As he spoke, his breathing became a little calmer, and he handed the reins to the officer and said, "This horse has been injured. You can lead it away and feed it with a few liters of clean and fine bean feed yourself. Don't feed it too much, or it will upset its stomach."
The officer took the reins and agreed, "I understand. But the person who wants to see you calls himself Zhao Heizi, and says that Your Highness knows and will meet you..."
"Oh? It's Brother Zhao Hei?" Yizhi's eyes lit up after hearing this, and he ordered, "This Zhao Heizi is an old friend of mine. Take him to my tent to rest and wait first, and I will go to see him myself." After that, he went to find Wei Hu, the chief officer of the military camp without looking back.
Since Zheng Miao left the camp to work at Yuhuangding in Funiu Mountain, only Wei Hu, a general, has been in charge of the central army and presided over daily affairs. He already knew the contents of the letter from King Youyan, and expected that Zheng Miao, Qiu Yizhi and Cui Nan would immediately return to the camp to handle military affairs after such a big change. However, he did not expect Qiu Yizhi to rush back to the camp in a day and a night for nearly hundreds of miles.
Just as he was stunned, he heard Qiu Yizi ask, "Has General Cui Nan returned to the camp?"
"General Cui has not arrived yet. I wonder why Your Highness is asking this question?"
Qiu Yizhi then realized that he had inadvertently arrived earlier than Cui Nan. He did not answer Wei Hu's question, but went straight to the point and said, "I think my third brother has informed General Wei of my father's order. What do you think?"
Wei Hu replied, "The Third Prince has told me about the prince's military order. I originally planned to follow the order and escort the prisoners immediately. But the Third Prince insisted on discussing with the other three princes before taking action. Therefore, I have not issued any orders yet. I will stabilize the morale of the army first."
Yizhi listened and nodded, knowing that Wei Hu's decision was the only correct choice under the uncertain situation, so he said: "General Wei's military tactics are flawless, and his reputation is well-deserved. We brothers have discussed it and will follow our father's order and immediately withdraw the entire army to Youyan Road. My father will send people to support us."
Wei Hu listened and thought, frowning and said: "The prince's order is very urgent, so the withdrawal is too hasty. After thinking it over, I think the only way to avoid chaos is to stabilize the central army first and then order the various camps to slowly withdraw with prisoners and baggage."
Although Qiu Yizhi had many ingenious plans, his experience in marching and deploying troops was not as good as Wei Hu's, so he said, "If General Wei has any arrangements, I will fully cooperate with him!"
Wei Hu rose from the ranks of the army. He was a general who fought his way up from a poor soldier. He was of low status, and although he did not say it, he always felt inferior in his heart. Seeing that His Highness, the adopted son of the King of Youyan, wanted to follow his lead, his vanity was instantly satisfied, and he said, "How dare I? We are all serving the King of Youyan with all our loyalty." Halfway through his words, he realized that he had said something wrong, and coughed lightly, "I plan to directly bypass the ranks of Langjiang, Jianxiu, Duwei, etc., and directly issue orders to the thousand commanders and hundred households of each battalion. Arrange for each battalion to escort 500 prisoners, and let the prisoners be responsible for transporting the baggage and food, and gradually retreat to Youyan. What do you think, Your Highness?"
As soon as Qiu Yi heard it, he knew that this method was extremely clever, with high efficiency and good order. It was only a veteran general who could come up with it. However, the general of the central army had to take care of every detail, and the workload increased greatly. So he said, "General Wei, this plan is excellent. I'm sure General Cui and my third brother will not have any objections. We can implement it now. If there is anything, it will all be on me." He added, "I will go change my clothes and wash up, and then I will meet with the general to handle it. I'll take my leave first..."
Wei Hu escorted Yizhi out of the military tent, and before he was far away, he shouted loudly: "Men, come here, there is work to do!"
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------(To be continued)