"Hahaha, Brother Wu is a smart man. We just arrived in the afternoon, and Mr. Yuchi and Ms. Yuchi only stayed in the Li Mansion for that afternoon, but Li Keju couldn't wait to plan a counterattack. If what I guessed is correct, they are indeed at the point of being incompatible with each other." Guo Jia's eyes were bright, as if this situation was exactly what he wanted.
Wu Diao seemed to understand Guo Qizuo's thoughts. He smiled slightly and did not comment.
Only Zhu Li looked puzzled. The two looked at him, and Wu Dao explained, "Li Keju couldn't possibly know how good your martial arts are. The reason why he used you to deal with Li Kuangwei must have been due to the contributions of Yuchi Xiaolang and Yuchi Xiaoniang. During the dinner, when you and Li Kuangwei were competing, she also stood up for you to deal with Li Quanzhong's sudden attack. It can be seen that she is an insider."
"Yes, when we go north this time, we have about 4,500 soldiers who can fight. This force is definitely not small. If Li Keju and Li Quanzhong do something dirty, Protector Li will definitely make trouble for us. I didn't become the local emperor of Lulong for nothing." Guo Qizuo added.
"Master and Mr. Guo said that the competition at the dinner was deliberately arranged by them?" Zhu Li finally came to his senses and couldn't help but ask.
"Of course. As far as I know, there are two large armies stationed in Danzhou, namely the Zhenyuan Army and the Weiwu Army. One of them is controlled by Li Keju's cronies, and the other is controlled by Li Quanzhong. Li Quanzhong recommended his son to be the commander of Beikou, probably because he wants to get involved in the Zhenyuan Army." Guo Qizuo speculated.
"Never mind him. Since Zhu Li has got the position of Beikou Shouzhuo, we have no choice now. Even if we don't want to confront Li Quanzhong, we have to do it now." Upon hearing this, Wu Dao's face showed a look of determination.
The next day.
Li Keju sent someone to deliver the fish seal. The Cloud Cavalry Commander was a fifth-rank official and could already wear a fish bag. Although it was made of copper, it was a symbol of status after all. Until this moment, Zhu Li had truly gotten rid of the label of a traitor and became a genuine official soldier.
In addition to Li Keju's servants, the young lady Yuchi Jin also came with the fish seal. Yuchi Jin came in person and conveyed Li Keju's secret order. Li Keju had only one request, that no matter what means Zhu Li used, he must ensure that the north entrance was completely under his control.
After accepting the fish-shaped seal, Zhu Li, Wu Dao, Guo Qizuo, Zhang Guiba, Pang Honggu and others immediately led their men to set off. In addition to their original 3,500 men, Li Keju also allocated them a troop of Yue cavalry, about 1,200 men. The title of Cloud Cavalry Commander was not given for nothing. It can be seen that the title Li Keju gave to Zhu Li was not an empty title, and he really wanted him to do something in Danzhou.
More than a thousand relatives of the bandits stayed behind, and Yuchi Jin promised to make proper arrangements for them, and the few people had no doubts about this.
Beikou is Gubeikou Town (now near Miyun District, Beijing).
There is no doubt that this is a military town. Due to the invasion of Khitan and Xi people two months ago, the previous commander of Beikou and the defenders in the military town were almost killed in the battle. When Zhu Li and others arrived here, there were only a few kittens and puppies left.
The remaining guards in the entire military town, added up to less than a hundred people, but these one hundred or so soldiers all had resolute faces, stern and fierce, and no one had a look of misery on their faces. From their eyes, Zhu Li saw
A look of death-like despair.
"Excuse me, who is Captain Zhu Li?" A deep and calm voice sounded, and a burly and majestic officer appeared in front of everyone. He had a firm expression and a dignified appearance. Faced with the sudden arrival of so many people, the officer did not seem nervous at all.
Seeing this person, Zhu Li's mind once again showed the Classic of Mountains and Seas, and a roaring sound suddenly rose: "Gao Yuan, the heroic spirit Gao Shun, the living body, Gao Shun, courtesy name unknown, the Lieutenant General under Lu Bu in the Eastern Han Dynasty, honest and dignified, loyal and unyielding, the originator of breaking into battle, heroic spirit unyielding, now in the world to help the people, heroic spirit appears, returning to the mountains and seas."
As the "Classic of Mountains and Seas" appeared in Zhu Li's mind, Gao Yuan, with an expressionless face, seemed to be drawn by some unknown force and looked suddenly at Zhu Li. In his eyes, he only saw a young man wearing a black helmet and steel armor, carrying a sword and a spear, sitting on a black warhorse with a proud look on his face.
Seeing this young man, he suddenly felt a little excited. It was the joy of a good horse meeting a good horse trainer, and the joy of instantly realizing his own heart. With such a feeling, Gao Yuan suddenly knelt on one knee, respectfully bowed to Zhu Li, and said with a cupped hand: "I am Gao Yuan, your subordinate, meeting the captain."
Zhu Li was also stunned when he saw Gao Yuan. This was the reincarnation of Gao Shun. In Zhu Li's mind, during the Three Kingdoms period, although Gao Shun was not well-known, he was a real soldier, honest and dignified, who would not accept gifts and would follow his master even when he died. Even if he was given ten thousand such generals, he would not think it was too many.
Zhu Li came to his senses and immediately jumped off his horse. He walked to Gao Shun and helped him up. He asked gently, "What position do you hold in the army, sir?"
There was no other way. In the Tang Dynasty, when addressing others, especially men holding official positions, one would address the other person by their official titles to show respect. This was the first time he met Gao Yuan, and he had no idea what his position was, and he didn't dare to address him rashly, so he took the initiative to ask.
"Reporting to the captain, I am now the brigade commander. Almost all the remaining brothers in Beikou are under my command." Following Zhu Li's gesture, Gao Yuan slowly stood up and answered Zhu Li's question.
"You're welcome, Commander Gao. We are all brothers from now on. I'm new here and don't know a lot of things. I need your guidance." Zhu Li exchanged pleasantries with Gao Shun while turning back to order the army, "Everyone, set up camp first. Master, Mr. Guo, Brother Guiba, Madam, Commander Gao, Lu Yong, let's have a meeting first."
"Well, that's as it should be." Wu Diao praised.
"Haha, it seems that the captain is becoming more and more mature." Guo Qizuo also agreed with a smile.
The meeting was very short and its main purpose was to integrate everyone's opinions and assign tasks.
Zhu Li appointed Zhang Guiba as the Zhongfu Guoyi Duwei, and selected a thousand men from the people he brought to form archers and cavalry; he promoted Lu Yong to the Xiafu Guoyi Duwei, and selected eight hundred men from the people he brought to train spearmen; there were nearly five hundred people left, which he handed all over to Gao Shun, and also promoted him to the Xiafu Guoyi Duwei, and asked him to train sword and shield soldiers.
With Gao Yuan, how far can the Xianzhen Camp be? Although it is impossible to see the legendary soldiers right away due to the limitations of conditions, Zhu Li will give all the people to Gao Yuan first. Once the conditions are met, Zhu Li doesn't believe that Gao Yuan will not make this request to him.
Of course, Wu Dao and Guo Qizuo were very surprised by Zhu Li's decisive promotion of Gao Yuan, but they didn't say anything. After all, Zhu Li was still young and he had to be allowed to make mistakes.
Mistake, they thought to themselves, don’t they still have the two of them here? Even if Zhu Li is not good at judging people, it doesn’t matter, they still have the ability to make amends.
But they didn't know that Gao Yuan decided to be loyal to Zhu Li the first time he saw him. It was because of the "Classic of Mountains and Seas" that Zhu Li was so decisive.
As for Pang Xun's old subordinates, Zhu Li was still handed over to Pang Honggu to take care of, and she was appointed as the Shangfu Guoyi Duwei, the fifth rank.
Zhu Li personally led 1,200 Yue cavalrymen. As for Wu Dao and Guo Qizuo, they were free to take charge of whatever they wanted.
Zhu Li gave Wu Dao the title of Shangzhou Sima, a fifth-rank official, and gave Guo Qizuo the title of Shangfu Guoyi Duwei, also a fifth-rank official.
After all the allocations were made, Beikou Town launched a vigorous campaign of large-scale construction and military training. The number of troops commanded by the guards ranged from 300 to 7,000. Zhu Li now had less than 5,000 men under his command, so it was not an overreach.
I don't know if it was because of Yuchi Jin's relationship or if Li Keju really had high hopes for Zhu Li, but when rebuilding Beikou Town, Zhu Li would get whatever he asked for as long as he opened his mouth.
Two months later, Beikou Town had been rebuilt. The small city made of flowing bluestone looked particularly solid. There were 5,000 soldiers stationed in the town. The Northern Di people would never be able to easily make trouble if they did not have an army of 20,000 or 30,000.
The soldiers of each unit had been almost trained, and Wu Diao brought up the old issue again, that of suppressing the bandits with strong troops. This was something that both Wu Diao and Guo Qizuo agreed to, and Zhu Li had no reason to refuse.
At Zhu Li's command, the Beikou New Army began to take action and started to encircle and suppress the bandits in Danzhou. The captured bandits were transformed into the new army, and their families were all moved to Beikou Town.
The influx of a large number of bandits' families also added a lot of vitality to Beikou Town. By the end of the sixth year of Qianfu, the garrison in Beikou Town had reached more than 10,000 people, and the number of ordinary people also increased by tens of thousands.
This was all at the request of Guo Qizuo, who wanted to implement military settlement in Beikou. Although it was a military settlement, the guards were not allowed to farm. So under the name of military settlement, it was actually the common people who were engaged in farming in Beikou Town, and these more than 10,000 common people were the reserve population for the farming.
All the anti-bandit activities were carried out secretly, so the deserted Beikou Town had quietly regained its former strength in less than half a year, and it had grown too strong, with the garrison alone exceeding the staffing by three to four thousand people.
And it seemed that God was also helping the development of Beikou Town. Since Zhu Li led his men into Beikou Town in August, until the end of the year, the Hu people seemed to be asleep and did not come to rob once. This gave them a rare opportunity for development.
By the time Li Quanzhong discovered the situation in Beikou Town, it was already the first year of Guangming (880 AD). At this time, a large army that was experienced in fighting had appeared in Beikou. There were almost no battlefield rookies, and all the soldiers had experienced the test of life and death.
The men who had never seen blood had been eliminated, and these people were left to lead some strong women to prepare to reclaim the wasteland.
In February of the first year of Guangming, a sudden military order alarmed the northern land, and even the developing Beikou Town was no exception. Li Keju, who was under the control of the Lulong Jiedushi, mobilized a large number of troops and gathered them in Fanyang. It seemed that there would be a major military operation, and Zhu Li was among them.