In the winter season, the water outside the Great Wall is dry and the grass is yellow. It is very pleasing to meet that bit of tenacious greenery. The three of them lead the horses to stop at a water source, and then go straight to the north for three days. Building a city with tiles. Xu Fengnian squatted down, picked up a handful of water, slapped it on his face, and let out a long breath.
Sui Xiegu, who was not familiar with military affairs, asked casually: "These northern barbarians have lost their minds, why didn't they station troops on the border in early autumn? In history, these nomadic barbarians who lived on horseback and chased the water all died in autumn. Entering the Central Plains to plunder the autumn harvest? In the freezing winter, still grab an egg?"
Xu Fengnian couldn't help laughing, Tantai calmly explained: "What you are talking about is just a general situation. In the history of the catastrophes that the nomads brought to the Central Plains, in fact, most of them went south in winter. By virtue of the freezing of the river, the cavalry was unimpeded. At the end of the Feng Dynasty, the northern barbarians entered the hinterland of the Central Plains by virtue of this."
Xu Fengnian went on to say: "The relationship between the grassland nomads and the farming dynasty of the Central Plains is the relationship between the wolf and the tiger. The initiative has always been in the hands of the latter. Whenever the latter becomes weak after prosperity and decline, it is a young tiger, a sick tiger, or a tiger that is about to die of old age. During the time of the tiger, the northern barbarians became the most powerful. Therefore, every time there was a civil strife in the Central Plains, the northern barbarians would invade the south and take advantage of the fire. But in the final analysis, from the Great Qin Dynasty to Liyang, the Central Plains dynasty dominated the northern barbarians. You must know that the official history of the Great Qin Dynasty at that time recorded that there were five barbarians and one of the Qin soldiers. At the peak of the Dafeng Dynasty, the official history also said that "the barbarians are quite good at Qin Qiao, and three of them are one." That is to say, even at that time The nomads in the north have obtained many casting techniques from the Great Qin Dynasty, and the three barbarians can only be equivalent to the combat power of a great armored soldier. But today, Beimang relies on the Southern Dynasty, which has absorbed countless remnants of the Spring and Autumn Period, in the Central Plains. It is estimated that there are only the elite troops of Guangling King Zhao Yi and Yanchi King Zhao Bing who dare to claim to fight with Bei Mang without defeat in equal numbers."
Sui Xiegu couldn't help asking: "Isn't the Liyang Dynasty powerful enough to rule the Central Plains? Didn't everyone say that the strength of Liyang far surpassed Dafeng and directly caught up with Daqin?"
Xu Fengnian laughed and said: "If today's son was not eager to show his greatness to the world when he first ascended the Great Treasure, and he did not fight those few battles with Beimang, but instead digested the strength of the Spring and Autumn and Eight Kingdoms with peace of mind, then In this battle between tigers and wolves in Liyang and Beimang, whether I have 300,000 soldiers in Beiliang or not, it doesn’t even matter at all, it’s just icing on the cake at most.”
Sui Xiegu stared and said: "The emperor boy surnamed Zhao has lost his mind? Didn't there be counselors to dissuade him at that time?"
Xu Fengnian said helplessly: "At that time, the victory between Liyang and Beimang was between five and five, who would dare to persuade? What's more, the emperor of the Zhao family wanted to use his own military skills to suppress a large group of people headed by my father and Gu Jiantang. Famous generals in the Spring and Autumn Period. How can there be such a clear distinction between right and wrong in people and things in the world? Like me, I am the son of Xu Xiao. In my eyes, Xu Xiao is naturally a king of a different surname who has made no major mistakes but has made countless great achievements. , then in the eyes of princes like Prince Zhao Zhuan, today's prince is the most diligent and caring emperor in the history of Liyang. Back then, Zhao Kai wanted to kill me at Reed Marsh, and I also went to Iron Gate to kill him. Neither of the two of them is the heinous guy, but there is no way, they were both pawns at the time, and they were pawns who were pushed across the river."
Sui Xiegu sarcastically said: "Hey, listen to your tone, dare you to change your body and become a chess player today?"
Facing the sarcasm of the ancestor who eats swords, Xu Fengnian smiled and said nothing. He stood up and looked to the north. On a line there, there were Wazhujun Town, Xijing, Jinchanzhou, and further north was Beimang Royal Court.
Tantai Jingping, dressed in white as a Qi trainer, suddenly said: "For the nomads, a strong and stable Central Plains dynasty is not a disaster? Once the helm of this dynasty advocates border skills, there will be a group of hopeful people around him. A genius general in the desert. And vice versa. The fight between the nomadic tribe and the land reclamation dynasty, even if the Liyang dynasty is destroyed, and the monarch with another surname is changed, it will not change... "
Xu Fengnian shook his head and said, "Yes!"
Tantai Ningping couldn't believe it, "Yes?"
Xu Fengnian stretched out a finger, pointing to the north, "As long as we can lay down this piece of land, and build several Daqin straight roads through Beimang there!"
Tantai Pingping had an unbelievable expression on his face, "Are you crazy?"
Xu Fengnian narrowed his eyes and said softly: "I'm not crazy. If I really want to say crazy, that was the young chief assistant who was in charge of the country at that time. Back then, when Xu Xiao and Gu Jiantang chose who to guard the Northwest Gate, they argued endlessly. The chief assistant is firmly opposed to my father coming to seal the border and crack the soil as a king with a different surname, but I learned an inside story very late. Someone in the opposition persuaded the old chief minister who returned to his hometown at the time but was still in power. This person, It is Zhang Julu. Because this civil servant who has never served in the army has ambitions unimaginable to all generals, the young chief assistant wants to use Beiliang as an outpost to attack Beimang, and use Beiliang iron cavalry as the main force to attack Beimang, so as to minimize the number of Liyang’s depletion of troops and supply pressure. Under this premise, Zhang Shoufu will let the court acquiesce in the Xu family’s controlled infiltration of Western Shu and Nanzhao.”
Xu Fengnian said slowly: "In this situation that the young chief assistant and Beiliang both know, many things are irresistible. Among them, the loyal Han family is too stubborn and conservative, and they don't want to take the entire family's foundation as the Xu family of Beiliang. For wedding clothes, once a compromise is made, the status of the Han family as the mainstay of the northern military will disappear, and the Han family that has fought against the northern nomads for generations will soon become a thing of the past. You must know that when the Xu family went to Liang, Han The head of the family is still with my father, and the two best friends are still chatting happily. If I remember correctly, my first matchmaker's words were not the son-in-law in the back, but the one of the Han family who was still piercing the horns at that time. Ya'er's little girl. Duo was behind his father, showing half of her face, and made a face at me."
Xu Fengnian tucked his hands into his sleeves, "In the beginning, the Han family made a lot of efforts before the matter was discussed, and then Yuan Benxi stepped in and gave Zhang Julu a hard time. When my father mobilized the iron cavalry and crossed the border to rescue Han It was too late when I was a child of my family."
Xu Fengnian looked up at the sky, "When I was young, I would often dream of that girl with a horned horn that I only saw half of. Half of her face was covered in blood, she kept crying and told me it hurt."
Xu Fengnian laughed at himself and said: "I used to be most afraid of having nightmares about her, but when I want to dream about her again later, I have no choice."
Xu Fengnian's waist was slightly bent, as if he was overwhelmed, and he seemed to remember someone.
"When I was young, I was ignorant and said a lot of angry words. I even said a word to Xu Xiao face to face. It probably meant that I became your son Xu Xiao, and I was unlucky for eight lifetimes. I was like this, and so was my mother."
"When I grew up, I realized that Xu Xiao could not do a better job. He gave me everything he could give me as a father. He always talked about how high-spirited he was when he was young, leading soldiers After the war, how many victories have been won, and how much scenery has been enjoyed. At that time, I was always impatient to hear him talk about these old sesame seeds and rotten millet. When I was impatient, I would say Xu Xiao. OK, okay?"
"All the discerning and smart people in the world laughed at Xu Xiao for being stupid. He helped the late emperor conquer the world, but in the end he defended his son against thieves for twenty years. In fact, everyone knew that Xu Xiao would not turn against him. If he wanted to rebel, there would have been a scene where the north and the south were ruled by rivers in the Central Plains. But the more this happened, the more Liyang would make progress. That's why the emperor of the Zhao family asked Zhao Kai to go to the Western Regions with a bottle and Chen Zhibao to go to the North Liang retreated, forcing the Xu family's 300,000 cavalry family to fight with Beimang. The emperor of the Zhao family used this method to help his son wear a dragon robe. Among Zhao Zhuan's temples, there will be no meritorious officials. There will be no Xu Xiao, a warrior, and Zhang Julu, a literati who cares about the people of the world. In the territory, there will be no feudal officials who are too big to lose their tails, and there will be no vassals who covet the dragon chair. There will only be a severely injured Beimang left. Come down for his son to complete the great feat that the two dynasties of Daqin and Dafeng failed to do."
"Xu Xiao once said that today's temperament is far inferior to that of the previous emperor, but he can indeed be regarded as a good emperor."
As Xu Fengnian spoke, he squatted down, grabbed a handful of yellow sand, and held it tightly in his hand.
Sui Xiegu sighed softly.
Tantai Pingping suddenly turned around and looked into the distance, there were dozens of horses flying dust.
The iron armor was stained with blood, and the knives and crossbows were dilapidated.
Xu Fengnian stood up, when the dozen or so riders who originally wanted to use this precious water source to quickly replenish the three found the three of them, it seemed that heaven and man were at war, if there was no water, neither they nor their horses could carry the enemy's black fox fence several miles away child's pursuit.
When the leading rider waved his hand and rushed towards the water source, the exhausted fourteenth rider got off his horse. When filling water into the bag and brushing the horse's nose with water, someone carefully watched Xu Fengnian and the other three to prevent any accidents. This is considered to be far away from the border of the Northern Liang Dynasty in the territory of the Southern Dynasties. The probability of meeting one of our own people is almost the same as meeting the northern barbarians in the territory of Beiliang. These fourteen riders are all fine riders with light armor and light crossbows. Everyone is burly and skilled in equestrianism, and they all wear the latest generation of cold knives hanging from their waists. It can be seen that they are the most outstanding crossbowmen in the Northern Liang Frontier Army. But this time, it must have been caught up by an enemy cavalry team of at least a hundred men, and everyone was injured. One of the horses reached the water source, shook a few times, and then fell dead on the spot. To see his beloved warhorse, without a word from him, the two knights beside him gave him a crossbow with less damage in battle, and this crossbowman, who was destined to never return to the border without his mount, It is even more impossible to ride the same horse back with his comrades in arms, that would only kill one more Pao Ze. The cavalry pawn carried a light crossbow on his back, touched the cold knife on his waist, grinned at all the other crossbowmen, and then turned to face the black foxes who were chasing after them to block the military information.
At this moment, the leading crossbowman who had already mounted his horse smiled when he saw the handsome young man, and said, "How about I exchange three horses for a cold knife?"
The long-looking man with a crossbow rider was stunned for a moment, and asked, "Are you from Liang too?"
Xu Fengnian nodded, "A true Liangzhou native."
The Biaochang said quickly: "In this case, Liangdao can be lent to you, but I hope that you can go to Fenglangguan to find me later. My name is Zhu Geng. This time, my brothers and I owe you our lives! The mounts of the young master are all Thousands of gold are hard to buy, even if you sell pots and irons, you can't afford it, Zhu Geng will definitely not be able to repay this kindness in this life, Zhu Geng is not a hypocritical person, I only dare to say that I will kill thirty more barbarians for my son in the future!"
Zhu Geng said to the cavalry pawn who had clearly gone to die earlier, "Li Tingji, get out, get on the horse with me and return to Fenglang Pass!"
Xu Fengnian gave all three horses to Zhu Geng, and when he handed over the reins, he said something that Zhu Geng didn't understand but had no time to think about it, "I owe you thirty-six lives for a crossbowman with fifty riders. .”
Fourteen rode on the horse's back and cupped his fists to express his gratitude. Zhu Geng did not forget to remind: "Young master, be careful, there are at most two miles behind, there are sixty black fox fences and three hundred Beimang Qingqi."
Xu Fengnian nodded, and when the fourteen crossbowmen had gone away, he looked at the two scarred horses, turned his head and said to Tantai Pingping and Sui Xiegu: "Please trouble me, seniors, to send these two horses to the Seal the wolf pass, and then wait for me at the Duhu Mansion."
Sui Xiegu was about to speak, but was given a cold glance by Tantai Pingping, so he could only swallow his words.
Holding the borrowed Beiliang knife in his right hand, Xu Fengnian walked forward slowly.
The left hand that had been holding the handful of gravel loosened its five fingers, and the yellow sand scattered into the sky and the earth.
He walked slowly towards the more than three hundred riders alone.
Next spring, the loquat tree in a small courtyard will sprout new buds and bloom new flowers.
The next year's spring is still the same, but I don't know if I can see it with my own eyes.