After He Mulan caught Liu Yuanjing, she caught Yan Qi. She should have been happy, but she was not happy at all.
She was shocked by the viciousness and cruelty of this man.
There is no general rule in this era. The decadence of the Wei and Jin Dynasties and the turmoil of a hundred years ago caused the turmoil of the whole society, so that all kinds of evils that would not have existed in the rule of the world before were quietly derived.
For example, this swordsman who enjoys killing and thinks killing is the same skill.
He Mulan had also known a group of rangers who lived in Liang County before, whether it was Shuan Zhuzi and others who had repeatedly attacked her property but was scared to pieces, or Gao Jinlong, who brought them along to sell illicit salt in order to survive. , can be regarded as a bright and upright man.
But this man kept calling them "Hugou Hugou", and his words were often used to kill her full of foul language. He Mulan couldn't help but slap him a few times and beat him all over the floor.
For this kind of bastard with bad views, she really thinks that even hitting him has a dirty hand!
If she can maintain the respect she deserves for an enemy general like Guifang, then this person really doesn't deserve to even look at him.
Because he was afraid that he would run out and hurt others again, He Mulan broke his hands, tied him with ropes, and asked Hua Ping to press him to the general's mansion and hand it over to Su Hejun.
He is Liu Yuanjing's accomplice, and if the answer cannot be found in Liu Yuanjing, it should be found in him.
***
"He still won't say anything?" Tuoba Tao stayed at the General's Mansion in Huaishuo City that night, and was heavily guarded, not because it was troublesome to go back, but because Liu Yuanjing tried to kill himself as soon as he woke up, Tuoba Tao was worried He will find short-term meeting on the road.
Such a determined dead man, I am afraid that it will take a lot of effort to find out what secrets in them.
"We rummaged through what they were carrying, and there was nothing important that could reveal their identities. The shopkeeper of the inn was hired. They are all Song people, they just do business here, and occasionally collect some information about military deployment and send them back. , I don't make any big moves on weekdays. I just received an order to respond to this person."
Su Hejun's face was solemn.
"The news was passed from Pingcheng, and their nest should be in Pingcheng."
Pingcheng is the capital of Wei State, and at the foot of the emperor, even though Tuoba Tao has been out for many years, the capital is still guarded by a large army, and the order is in order. Now the shopkeeper of Huai Shuo said that every order they received came from Pingcheng. How could they not be surprised
"In any case, the information must be interrogated from this scribe in white." Tuoba Tao hated him for fanning the flames around Rouran. He already knew that Rouran tried to capture him alive several times. Boldness and ambition were also impressed.
Once this kind of person really gains the momentum for him and takes the path of conspiracy, it will be disgusting and difficult to deal with.
"Your Majesty, as soon as he woke up, he shouted that Huwei General Hua Mulan was a woman. Many egret officers who tortured him heard it. It was really..."
Su Hejun said with some embarrassment: "I think he is firm-willed, but the egret officials all say that he seems to have lost his mind. No matter how he tortured him and asked questions, that's all."
"Let him yell, I have my own way of dealing with Hua Mulan. I will send someone to the military mansion to change the military stickers of the Hua family, and add the eldest son, Hua Mulan."
Tuoba Tao said disapprovingly, "If it wasn't for the concern that Hua Mulan would not be able to convince the public, even if she was a woman, it would be alright to let her lead the troops. When I was out, the tiger talisman in Beijing was in the hands of the Queen Mother Dou. Soldiers rely on prestige and the ability to lead soldiers, and I insist on using them, even if they know the truth, they can only admit it."
What's more, Mulan really doesn't look like a man.
He was no longer surprised, he just wanted to see the moment when their eyeballs fell...
"Your Majesty! General Hua's family sent an assassin, saying that it was handed over to Lord Su He." A guard entered the room to report, and brought news of the Hua family.
"What? Assassin?"
Tuoba Tao was stunned and turned to look at Su He-jun.
It is not easy to expose Tuoba Tao's identity to the outside world, saying that it was handed over to Su Hejun, but in fact it was handed over to Tuoba Tao. Tuoba Tao gestured to Su Hejun with his eyes, and the latter immediately went out to see what happened.
After a while, Su Hejun came back and shouted overjoyedly: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, don't worry about that Song countryman, General Hua sent his fellow fire!"
"Great!".
Early the next morning, Tuoba Tao issued an imperial order, and Hua Mulan wanted to drive with him and return to Pingcheng together.
He Mulan originally wanted to go to Pingcheng alone, and he could learn about the current situation of Dawei on the way. As a result, he ordered that He Mulan would go with Tuoba Tao, no matter how unwilling she was, she could only accept the order. Do as you please.
The Hua family finally looked forward to their daughter's return, but when they encountered this kind of assassination, they felt very uneasy. Fortunately, Tuoba Tao also sent a few egret officials and guards from the Hua family to protect the Hua family and to congratulate them. Mulan and Tuoba Tao revealed that the Hua family wanted to move to Liang County. Tuoba Tao thought that the move would prevent Hua Mulan from being spied on in the future, so he promised to send someone to deal with the matter.
With Emperor Wei personally interrogating this matter, it was more than enough whether He Mulan wanted to protect his family or conceal his identity.
Early in the morning, He Mulan packed up and prepared to go to the General's Mansion to meet with Tuoba Tao, Yuan Shi and Hua Huo reluctantly bid farewell to their daughter, Yuan Shi even held her hand and said, "You are now I'm getting old, and I can't delay it, so I'll fix my life as soon as possible, huh?"
He Mulan was stunned by Yuan Shi's nagging. She nodded in agreement and instructed to be careful about her body. After saying goodbye to Hua Ping and Hua Huo, she set foot on the journey.
When the group came to the General's Mansion, they didn't see the guard of honor who came to greet the holy car, but only saw Tuoba Tao, who was just a light car, waiting at the door, waiting for He Mulan to arrive.
"Du... Du Shijun..." He Mulan glanced left and right, and said in shock, "You actually..."
A group of guards immediately showed a complaining expression of "yes, you guessed right, he's convulsing again".
"Mulan, you are finally here."
Tuoba Tao touched his ears guiltily, as if he had already felt the roar of Gu Bi and other ministers.
"Su and Jun will stay here to deal with the two spies you sent yesterday. I haven't inspected the border defense for many years, and I have ordered the army to slowly return to Beijing. Let's wander around and catch up with the army."
"But your majesty... security concerns..."
He Mulan looked around and saw that the outside of the General's Mansion was relatively clean, so he lowered his voice and said, "If you meet someone who is wrong on the road..."
"Everywhere I go, there will be secret guards to protect it, not to mention that the egret officials are all dispatched with me. I am walking on my own territory, so there is nothing to worry about."
Tuoba Tao pouted, this is not the first time that he has done this, and everyone else is used to it.
After He Mulan tried to persuade several times to no avail, he had to accept his fate and followed Tuoba Tao with Chen Jie, who was injured in his leg, and headed towards the city gate.
Eight Su Wei followed Tuoba Tao, plus He Mulan and Chen Jie, there were ten people in total, and some wolf heads were among them. When Chen Jie knew that he was going to follow the emperor, his calf and stomach trembled suddenly. He mounted his horse and turned over several times but failed to turn it over, which made Tuoba Tao jokingly said, "You personal soldier, but you don't have the guts at all..."
He was talking about how she was neither humble nor arrogant in the face of her emperor when she was by Kumoti's side.
'That's because I know you are a generous prince, he doesn't know that. '
He Mulan sneered in his heart, and explained for his younger brother with a straight face: "That's because the emperor is too majestic."
Everyone loves to hear good things, so Tuoba Tao smiled after hearing He Mulan's explanation, and while driving his royal horse, he leaned over to chat with her: "The assassin you sent yesterday did a lot of work."
"Huh? Wasn't it recruited by the previous scribes?"
The white-clothed scribe was relatively weak, but the assassin was extremely hostile. If it was to be tortured, it should have been the wicked and vicious people who knew martial arts for a long time, and the weak scholar should be recruited immediately.
"You don't understand, for people like the scribes you arrested before, the most important thing is integrity. For them, if you torture them severely and persecute them to death, that's their glory, and they have a good name. 'Killing to become a benevolent'. For such people, I have never been in favor of torture to extract confessions, and there are other ways for them to tell the truth, but it takes longer, so it is slow."
Tuoba Tao's ambition to be unified is known to the whole world, and there are not many spies and spies from various countries every day.
"On the contrary, those who are vicious and have no persistence, no matter how stern they seem, as long as they use the means, they will do everything." Tuoba Tao snorted coldly: "You don't? I know, the assassin named Yan Qi you sent, in order to cover up his whereabouts, killed a family near the inn. All three members of the family died tragically, not even the child was spared. I just let Su and Jun beat him casually. After boiling him a few times, he did everything, as if he was afraid that I would use more terrible means to deal with him."
"My Iceberg Beauty Wife"
"He actually killed civilians? I thought he was trying to save the previous scribes..."
He Mulan cursed angrily, "Could it be that these swordsmen have this kind of virtue?!"
What about the legendary chivalrous spirit
Is it to start with the elderly and weak women and children? !
"What swordsmen, they are just a group of self-proclaimed criminals. He was ordered by Liu Yikang, the king of Pengcheng of Liu Song, to come to receive this scribe named Liu Yuanjing, and the place he went to is also strange, it was Yuanjia Wubi of Chen County. ."
When He Mulan heard "Yuanjia Wubi", a strange expression appeared on her face.
Yuan Fang's ghostly smile suddenly appeared in front of her eyes.
Fortunately, Tuoba Tao focused on riding the horse and didn't notice He Mulan's expression, he just continued:
"What I'm more curious about is that Liu Yikang's subordinates are also full of talented people, why only such a crappy swordsman is allowed to meet Liu Yuanjing."
Tuoba Tao left Huai Shuo, but his horse speed did not speed up. He continued to speak to He Mulan unhurriedly, "I suspect that Liu Song has changed. Liu Yikang can no longer send people, or he doesn't dare to send people."
"King of Pengcheng..."
When Hua Mulan was fighting in the army, he never fought against Liu Song. Although Liu Song had been trying to make the appearance of going north several times, it was a move to contain Wei. Later, whether it was Pingyan or Pingliang , Liu Song didn't really send troops north, so that He Mulan didn't know much about the Southern Dynasty.
But even if she didn't know much about it, she knew that this Pengcheng king Liu Yikang was a great person. He was the fourth son of Liu Yu, the founding king of Liu Song, and the third son of the current Song Emperor. He served as King of Pengcheng during Liu Yu's reign, and this year, he took the position of the minister, and co-administered with the old minister Wang Hong.
When He Mulan just came in, she heard rumors from the south in Chen County, saying that Liu Song's emperor disagreed, and the prime minister Liu Yikang was abolished from the throne and relegated to Jiangzhou to be the prefect.
If the two are not in harmony, they can still save their lives and become a prefect. Liu Yilong can be regarded as a benevolent and righteous brother to this younger brother.
"If it were that King Pengcheng, it would be really unexpected."
"You're not in the court, you don't know."
Tuoba Tao wanted to train He Mulan, and he had been on guard against Liu Song for many years, so he told her about the situation in detail.
"Emperor Song was frail and sickly since he was a child. Although he was wise and capable, he could recuperate all year round. When he fell ill, Liu Yikang and Wang Hong were mostly assisted in the court. There are still more, and he will not go to the court soon, so it is nominally a co-administration. In fact, Liu Yikang has been supporting the government alone for three years. He is indeed a man of great talent. After that, Liu Yilong can be the emperor himself, hehe, isn't that how Liu Yilong's throne came to be..."
Tuoba Tao talked about the rise and fall, but it was like discussing the ordinary things.
"It's a pity that this Liu Yikang is obsessed with monarchs and ministers, respecting the elders, doing the emperor's affairs conscientiously, but not occupying the emperor's righteousness, and has already planted the root of his troubles..."
"I just said, with Liu Yilong's cautious temperament, how can he do the amazing act of wanting to capture me alive to control the Great Wei, even this matter of uniting all countries and sending envoys, it will not be Liu Yilong's style. Although the Song Emperor was not a loyal and righteous person, he would not have done such an obvious thing about forming an alliance behind his back. Looking at it now, it is really the handwriting of the King Pengcheng. Liu Yikang's popularity is more than Liu Yilong is a little bit worse."
Tuoba Tao smiled.
"As long as I know the people behind the scenes, it will be easy to handle. Even if Liu Yilong trusts Liu Yikang again, it is a taboo for him to send messengers to make friends with the monarchs of other countries. Liu Yikang does not dare to send his own troops, but only dares to find such lame people. The fact that the swordsman came to meet Liu Yuanjing is proof. When I investigate the situation here, I will find a group of messengers to send this Liu Yuanjing to Emperor Song with great fanfare, and I see whether the two of them will still have a deep brotherhood!"
As soon as these words came out, He Mulan stared in astonishment as if he had never seen this His Majesty.
Tuoba Tao felt something, turned his head, and saw He Mulan opened his mouth as if seeing a cow flying in the sky, and couldn't help laughing: "Hahaha, do you think I love fighting? So you just like to use war to solve problems? You really… hahahaha…”
He laughed three times to the sky, and said with a smile: "My treasury is not as rich as Liu Yilong's, and I don't want to fight unnecessary battles. The land in the Southern Dynasty is fertile, but I never thought about it. Call Liu Song..."
Tuoba Tao shook his head.
"The South cannot be taken down. In a hundred years, no matter how many conquests there are, the North always collapses in an instant. Only the South, which seems to be weak and invincible, will never give in to the battle. The interpersonal relationship also withered, but in just a few short decades, the Han people have regained their vitality, although the population is less than one-fifth of my Wei, but it has a stronger national strength than our Wei state."
"Han people have the backbone and character of the Han people, and they don't decide whether they can fight well and whether they are burly. It is enough for me, Tuoba Xianbei, to own the vast land in the north, and now so many people are enough for me to have a headache. Maybe my Later generations can conquer him, but I only need the Central Plains."
For the first time, the emperor showed a confused expression.
"You know, I have always felt that the Han people are very scary and have a kind of terrifying power. I'm afraid that if we hit the south, our Xianbei clan will no longer exist, just like Fu Jian back then."
The Battle of Feishui left deep fear for all the Hu people.
If there was no fiasco in the Battle of Feishui, Qian Qin would not be destroyed, Fu Jian would not die, and there would not be the chaos and independence of the sixteen countries that followed, there should be only one powerful country in the north, and that is Qian Qin.
Today, the Di and Jie peoples have been almost exterminated by the Han people, and Murong Xianbei also exists in name only. Although Tuoba Xianbei is powerful, it has inevitable succession due to the low productivity, and can only improve national strength through war.
With a population of only five million, Liu Song not only maintained internal unity, but also developed rapidly at a terrifying speed.
He Mulan didn't know how the history developed in the future, but only knew that the Northern and Southern Dynasties had been established for a long time, until the Sui Dynasty was unified, then the Song Kingdom should be able to support it for a long time.
He Mulan breathed a sigh of relief when he heard that Tuoba Tao had no intention of taking the initiative to fight Song.