A thousand riders rushed to Laodushan's defense line by sweeping through Pinggang, leading the general, and Wu Chongxuan, who led the Ministry of War with the rank of Zhengnan Great General, turned over and fell off his horse, standing in the devastated barracks, holding his horsewhip tightly , squinting silently. The bodies of the soldiers who died in the battle had all been evacuated, but the blood on the ground was still shocking, which showed the brutality of the previous battle.
Not far away, four or five high-ranking officers who looked like school lieutenants came side by side. In the middle, a big man in armor held his head in his hands, and knelt down five steps in front of Wu Chongxuan, weeping uncontrollably. Seeing this scene, Wu Chongxuan's face was gloomy, and his heart was overwhelmed. Wang Tongshan was originally a key figure used by King Yanchi to check and balance the soldiers and horses in northern Xinjiang. Overshadowing the sky, Wu Chongxuan was recruited by the imperial court this time. It looks beautiful, but in fact, the notorious Wang Tongshan will become Wu Chongxuan's most important pawn to attract the attention of Liyang officials, especially Qingliu officials. For this reason, Wu Chongxuan specially suggested to the young emperor, and put forward a favorable condition that even Wang Tongshan himself could not have expected, that is, to confer an official title on Wang Tongshan. Wang Tongshan can then sit in the Jianzhou area south of the Guangling River in the dual capacity of marquis and general of Zhennan, restraining and suppressing King Yanchi's troops in southern Xinjiang, and preventing Zhao Bing from going northward. Now that Wang Tongshan has died suddenly, not only is there a missing unparalleled warrior on the western front of the imperial court, which has a great impact on the Guangling battle situation, but also has a profound impact on Wu Chongxuan's future layout in the imperial court. Wang peeling cramps
Wu Chongxuan looked at the dead head, his eyes were round and his face was ferocious. Even if he saw Wang Tongshan's head with his own eyes at this moment, Wu Chongxuan was still a little dazed. Wang Tongshan, who was invincible in southern Xinjiang with his military exploits and military power, was a fierce general who could overthrow an entire barbarian tribe with a single blow of his halberd. So dead? To be honest, not only Wu Chongxuan didn't like this person from the bottom of his heart, but even Yan Chi Wang Zhao Bing and Nalan Youci didn't like Wang Tongshan, not to mention the eldest son Zhao Zhu who personally assassinated Wang Tongshan. But this world is so realistic, no matter how tyrannical and cruel Wang Tongshan is, he is not capable of leading troops to fight at all. There is Wang Tongshan, the god of killing, who has the highest prestige among the barbarians, so that whenever the barbarians rebel, as long as the general flag of Wang Tongshan is erected, it can be said to fall in the wind, so that a big joke was made in the early years. The rebel general specially spent 200,000 taels of silver to send someone to borrow the flag from Wang Tongshan, and went to the poor mountain to rebel. Because of this, King Zhao Bing of Yan had to transfer Wang Tongshan to northern Xinjiang, so the official circles in southern Xinjiang regarded the rebellious Wang Tongshan as Xu Xiao from Liyang.
The person is dead, and the matter has come to an end, Wu Chongxuan sighed, bent down to help the infantry captain who was loyal to Wang Tongshan, and comforted him: "Lieutenant Situ, I will definitely avenge General Wang, even if I risk my life." At the risk of being reprimanded and demoted by the court, 5,000 cavalry should be dispatched to intercept and kill Xu Fengnian!"
The school lieutenant, who was holding his head and covered in blood, said in a deep voice, "I implore the general to let you serve as a pawn!"
The rest of the lieutenants in the center of Wang Tongshan's army also clasped their fists and begged for their lives: "I implore the general to let his subordinates take revenge!"
Wu Chongxuan's face was expressionless, and his thoughts changed rapidly. These school lieutenants and their soldiers and horses in front of them total more than 10,000. They are all direct descendants of Wang Tongshan who brought him from southern Xinjiang to northern Xinjiang. I am willing to spend all my money, especially when I report my military achievements to the King of Yanchi, and never withhold a single bit. Even many of Wang Tongshan's military exploits in beheading enemy chieftains with his own hands are also handed over to his generals. Faster than elsewhere. Ordinary military generals use people, dogs but not wolves, unless they are tigers, they have to worry about their own safety. Wang Tongshan has a strong reputation, so there are many wolves and generals under his command. In fact, Wu Chongxuan has always been paying attention to this group of captains who are good at fighting. He originally thought that once Wang Tongshan died and the group of dragons had no leader, he should go along with the flow and follow him to fight for a future with the general who conquered the South, but now it seems that he may not be able to use it for him.
Wu Chongxuan patted the infantry lieutenant on the shoulder, and pointed to the front line of Laodushan with his horsewhip, "As long as you capture Laodushan, you can gallop freely in Guangling Road. Not only that, but as long as there is news of Xu Fengnian's whereabouts, you will be the first!" Time will tell everyone, and Tanghe and Li Chunyu's cavalry will try their best to cooperate with you to stop Xu Fengnian."
Wu Chongxuan glanced at Wang Tongshan's head, "As for General Wang, when you break Laodushan, I will tell the court that your general died in battle at Laodushan, and you must ask the court for a gift of posthumous marquis. .”
The school captains took orders one after another to thank them.
When Wu Chongxuan led the army to leave, he glanced back at the barracks, and then said indifferently to the military commander beside him: "Send a secret order to Li Chunyu, and let him lead the army to attack at night when Lao Dushan wins and celebrates, Situ None of the school lieutenants with real power, including Yushan, will be left behind. As for how many soldiers and horses he can win over in the future, it depends on his own ability. Tang He came to compile it."
The pro-army commander led a group of elite cavalry to leave quickly. At this time, Wu Chongxuan deliberately slowed down his horse, and waited until a young man in light armor who looked like a scout approached, and then asked: "Mr. Yuan, in your opinion, what if After discovering the whereabouts, how many people do we need to dispatch to keep the person who killed Wang Tongshan?"
The young man who Wu Chongxuan called Yuan Gongzi instead of an official in the army did not have the slightest awe of the other captains when they faced Wu Chongxuan, and said calmly: "Wu Shangshu is not joking? Is he asking this question seriously?"
The two master subordinates of General Wu showed undisguised expressions of annoyance. They had long been displeased with this young man surnamed Yuan who had joined the army halfway through his unknown origin. He took the initiative to talk to him in a friendly manner, and it was also this look of dying.
Wu Chongxuan was not angry at all, and nodded seriously: "I'm not joking."
The young man who was temporarily serving as a ranger scout smiled, "Three to five thousand people may not be enough, 10,000 elite cavalry is about the same."
Wu Chongxuan hummed, and then asked in doubt: "Didn't it mean that after Li Chungang returned to the realm of land gods, he could only break two thousand and six armors with a single sword on the bank of Guangling River? Could it be said that the four great masters of contemporary martial arts are far better than Jiazi?" Are the former top masters going to increase their combat power? It takes tens of thousands of people to besiege and kill them to make meritorious deeds?"
But the sarcasm in the young man's words is quite heavy: "Some things are not calculated in this way, not to mention how high Li Chungang's real combat power is. Counting the martial arts masters who died in battle, all of them are 'idiots' who never retreat. For example, the Xishu Sword Emperor who was trampled into flesh by the Xu family's iron cavalry. Before that, the Wu family's nine swords defeated the northern mang and ten thousand cavalry. In fact, they were chased and intercepted so that there was no way out, so they had to put all their eggs in one basket. Wang Tongshan Known as an invincible hand in southern Xinjiang, it is nothing more than a hero of the time who made Zhuzi famous. With his natural brute force and diamond physique, he can naturally kill all masters below the astronomical realm. Cheng Baishuang and Ji Liu'an really have nothing to do with him, but as long as he goes north For example, try Deng Tai'a? I guess it's just a matter of one or two swords from the Peach Blossom Sword God. After a hundred moves, Wang Tongshan will surely die."
As soon as these words came out, General Zhengnan remained calm, but the expressions of the two conceited masters with higher eyes than the top all changed drastically.
The young man said indifferently: "Southern Xinjiang? There is a fart river and lake there. The sky is high and the land is wide, it is not the scenery of a small well."
This young man who used to spend two years silently in Wudi City in the East China Sea has now changed his surname from Jiang to Yuan. Three people, otherwise no one will be able to stop them, let alone catch up. Therefore, what I called the siege of Wanqi earlier is actually nonsense."
Wu Chongxuan sighed for no reason, "The rivers and lakes are higher than the temples, it's not a comforting thing."
The young man echoed for the first time: "One day, where we stand, there will be no immortals and no heroes, and all the dragons in the rivers and lakes will be carp in the pond."
…
There is a lake in the northwest corner of the Imperial City of Western Chu. The lake is not big, but it is not small, and the name is even more interesting. It is called "Jianghu".
A young woman in plain and elegant palace attire sits in a waterside pavilion by the lake. There is no one around, and everything is silent.
Probably because she was used to being restrained, she finally escaped leisurely, so she took off her boots and sat cross-legged. Instead of admiring the beautiful lake view in early spring, she leaned forward, bowed her head, and stacked them neatly in front of her eyes. There are piles of copper coins of different face values, different sizes, different old and new, and different heights.
She looked at those copper coins obsessively, and her mind traveled thousands of miles.
She thought of many old things, such as the dilapidated little hut, such as the small but very green vegetable garden. For example, when she was carrying a heavy bookcase like a mountain, she climbed a mountain step by step. At that time, she only felt that moving books was like moving a mountain. Another example is that after studying to make money, it feels like every word is money, which is much better.
Although Xichu's current courtroom is much colder than before, when she sits in that chair every day, she will find that the earliest pure eyes are gone, replaced by some gloomy aura , like sections of rotten wood. It was only later that she learned that several groups of people and new faces had changed in the court hall, and disciples from aristocratic families kept pouring into it, so father and son were in the same court hall, and even Huang Zigongqing, who was the same as the third generation, began to appear. She sat there in that splendid hall, and there were frequent quarrels in the hall, literati and warriors, literati and literati, and warriors attached to the wings of literati would also quarrel with warriors. Almost everyone seemed to be fighting for the country. To be loyal, everyone's statement is aboveboard, so everyone seems to be so impassioned, and there is nothing wrong with it.
She doesn't understand.
The old grand master Sun Xiji was getting older and older, and even had to sit on the imperial chair the last few times he went to court.
And there are fewer and fewer people in the main hall wearing the official robes of military officials. They rushed to the battlefield one after another, and many people died in battle one after another.
She still doesn't understand why those people are willing to die so resolutely. Just like she didn't understand why those gray-haired old people cried so sadly, relieved and grateful when she sat on that chair for the first time.
She doesn't understand many things, but Uncle Qi Daizhao said that she just needs to sit there every day.
She felt that she could do this, and she told herself that she must do it well.
She is sitting here today, the clouds are calm and the wind is calm.
At this time, above the sky of the palace, a flock of orioles flew by.
For some reason, an oriole fell instantly and landed on the roof of a palace with a thud, dripping with blood.
At the same time, on the surface of a lake in the "river and lake" beside her, there was clearly no object appearing on the water surface, but a series of extremely slender water columns splashed up, and then quickly returned to calm.
In the past half a month, the eunuchs and maids in the palace have found the corpses of one or two birds on the road from time to time, some of them seemed to have arrows piercing through their bodies, some had their wings cut off by sharp weapons, and most of them fell directly into a bloody mess .
What's even more strange is that their emperor, His Majesty the Emperor, spent most of this half month sitting by the lake in a daze. At the beginning, there would be elite guards guarding in the distance, but soon everyone felt a sense of coldness for no reason. They thought it was because of the cold spring, but every time they left after the gate of the palace was closed at night, and every time they were away from the small lake, it was obviously a dark night with no sun, and they should have felt colder, but instead felt much warmer. Over time, the small lake, which is always level as a mirror no matter how windy or small it is, looks extraordinarily weird, especially since rumors of countless birds falling began to spread throughout the capital, and songs began to spread in the streets and alleys, saying that this is a woman. The scourge of the current country, there are even strange rumors with ulterior motives insinuating, saying that His Majesty the current emperor is actually a wild fox spirit who came out of the deep mountains and has lived for thousands of years, but he is just wearing human skin. What made the older generation of Western Chu adherents feel the most grief and indignation was the statement in the market that the empress Jiang Si was actually an orphan girl on the roadside that Cao Changqing found casually. A puppet propped up.
A group of three people came to the outside of the water pavilion under the bowing guidance of the eunuch, the supervisor of ceremonies.
All three were surnamed Song, three generations of the Song family, Song Wenfeng, Song Qingshan, and Song Maolin.
Song Wenfeng, the old Taishi Sun Xiji, and the former national teacher Li Mi are all old people of the same generation, and now they are in charge of the Chu family. Song Qingshan is the current minister of the Ministry of Rites. The two masters of the Song family in the literary world of the Yang Dynasty are very similar. As for Song Maolin, his reputation spread far and wide, especially when the two simple and catchy sayings "North Xu Southern Song Dynasty" and "Xu Zi Song Zhang" spread across the north and south like spring breeze, making Song Maolin feel like "Who is in the world?" I don't know the king", that's why last year in the temple there was a marriage between the Song family Yushu and His Majesty the Emperor. Even the old grand master Sun Xiji, who was not very keen on this matter at first, finally loosened his tone. Jiang Cao Changqing, who presided over the military affairs of the navy.
The eunuch was about to report aloud, Song Wenfeng smiled and shook his hands, his eyes signaled his son and grandson to stay at the bottom of the steps, and climbed up the steps alone, standing in the waterside pavilions with willows on both sides, he didn't even have the slightest intention of saluting, it wasn't that Song Wenfeng was blind , but the old man understands a truth that you can't make money doing business with people on your knees. Song Wenfeng didn't know this truth twenty years ago.
Song Wenfeng said softly: "Your Majesty, I don't know if I should say something or not."
The stunning young woman was unmoved.
Song Wenfeng had to admit that regardless of her status, this woman was indeed worthy of the fascination of her eldest grandson just because of her appearance. Even the old man himself, who has been pure and ascetic for many years, has some small thoughts of "regret for being born fifty years earlier".
The old man frowned, and said in a slightly louder voice: "Your Majesty, I'm sorry for the old minister's blunt words, the general situation is no longer in our Chu, if Jiang's Guozuo wants to survive forever, he has to rely on external forces..."
When she turned her head and shifted her gaze away from those weird copper coins, Song Wenfeng looked at her with a guilty conscience.
Song Wenfeng gritted his teeth, and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, many officials nowadays are not courtiers, and even secretly colluded with Wu Chongxuan, Shangshu of Liyang Military Department, and Lu Shengxiang, the commander of Nanzheng, and kept leaking the marching formation and troop deployment of our Great Chu. .At this critical moment, the old minister is willing to be that villain who will be infamous for thousands of years..."
She calmly said: "Master Song, do you want to say that you are a little more loyal than those people? They are fools, and fell to the Liyang court, but your Song family is more powerful, and you chose Yan Chi Wang Zhao Bing?"
Song Wenfeng's face turned red, and she was even more shocked. Why did this little girl know about such private affairs
She said indifferently: "Not only do I know that your Song family chose King Yan Chi, but also Zhao Shangshu from the Ministry of Officials privately sent someone to deliver a secret letter to Lu Shengxiang. Liu Shangshu from the Ministry of Industry and Ma Shilang from the Ministry of Rites chose to join Wu Chongxuan."
Now that the skylight was opened and everyone was speaking openly, Song Wenfeng ignored that old face, stood up straight, stroked his beard and said with a smile: "As long as Your Majesty agrees to the old minister..."
Before Song Wenfeng could finish speaking, Empress Jiang Si waved her hand and said, "You go."
Song Wenfeng remained motionless, and said with a sneer: "Your Majesty, do you still think that the current Western Chu is still the Western Chu of last year? Dare to ask where Kou Jianghuai is? Where is Cao Changqing?! Your Majesty, if you are willing to take a step back now, then Yan Chi Wang Zhao Bing promises you to return If he can be the emperor for ten years, he or his son will be honorable and abdicated in the future."
She just looked down at the copper coins, "You live your life, just be happy. But if you feel that Cao Changqing and Lu Dantian are not in the capital, you can do whatever you want and force me to do anything..."
Song Wenfeng smiled playfully: "How dare the old minister, no one in the world knows that His Majesty is a master of swords and immortals."
She frowned suddenly and her face turned pale.
At the bottom of the steps, the eunuch with the handprint of the supervisor of ceremonies trembled and bowed his head in silence.
Song Wenfeng let out a heavy breath, walked to the water's edge, and looked towards the river, "Sun Xiji is almost dead at this time, and the Qi mechanism in your body is almost collapsed, Your Majesty. If it weren't for the old minister who still remembers the late emperor's love, today I will let you This palace is named Song, what's the problem?"
The old man smiled and said: "Of course, it doesn't matter what the Xichu surname is, and even what the world's surnames will not matter in the future, because no matter how the emperor takes turns, we cannot do without our Song family."
Her face returned to calm, and she didn't even bother to look up. She just looked at the copper coins, curled her lips imperceptibly, and sniffed her nose.
She wasn't afraid, and she wasn't worried.
She was just a little wronged.
Hello.
It's one thing whether I see you or not.
But whether you come or not is another matter.
so.
Where are you
…
Suddenly, a gust of breeze blew past the gate of the capital of West Chu.
The breeze blows through the twelve large and small gates.
When the attacking figure suddenly stopped outside the gate of the imperial city, the big sleeves were still fluttering lightly.
The armored defenders above and below the city gate were stunned.
That extremely handsome young man, with his sleeves folded and two swords on his waist.
The young man did one thing. He cupped his hands to his mouth and gave a feed.
It seems to be telling someone, and it seems to be telling the whole capital, telling the whole Dachu.
I am coming.
I am here.
I came from the northwest to the southeast.