Xiao Haohu held up a Pisces mirror and looked at his face. He is only forty years old this year. He has long eyebrows, a broad mouth, and a lush moustache. He looks majestic, tall, and mighty. Coupled with the luxurious brocade robe, who could tell that he was a small-time soldier leading an army into the Central Plains?
Such magnanimity deserves a bigger undertaking!
Xiao Haohu nodded with satisfaction, stood up with his knife and went out.
Outside the door, there were several strong men standing in leather armor and holding swords and guns.
Xiao Haohu looked them up and down. Seeing that these people were all in high spirits, he immediately ordered in a deep voice: "Follow me!"
The Gaoyangguan Walled City, which was originally too damaged to look like it, changed its appearance within half a year in Xiao Haohu's hands. The inspection office, which originally occupied only one-tenth of the platform, was expanded several times in area. According to the border fort pattern that Xiao Haohu was familiar with, trenches and earthen forts were built on the periphery, and turrets were erected.
The group of people marched along the edge of the camp. Wherever they went, the soldiers all paid homage with solemn military salute.
Xiao Haohu is a very Chinese-speaking person. His ancestors were attached to the Liao Dynasty and had many meritorious deeds, so they were given the surname Xiao.
Later, when the Jin Dynasty destroyed the Liao Dynasty, in order to cut off the Khitan people's desire to restore the country, they changed the surnames of the Yelu family on a large scale. The Shulu family and the Shenmi family among the Khitan nobles changed their surnames to Shimo on a large scale. On the contrary, the Xi clan was not affected.
Until decades later, in the so-called "Yao Nian, Zhao Gu Ya Jiu Meng'an" along the Great Wall in northern Xinjiang, many Xi tribal army officers still had the surname Xiao.
Since the founding of the Kingdom of Dajin, eight tribal military envoys have been consecrated in the northern Xinjiang grasslands, two of whom were from the Xiao family of the Xi tribe. As for the Mongolian tribe that now dominates the grasslands and is powerful for thousands of miles, its leader back then was just an envoy of the tribal army.
This fact always reminds Xiao Haohu that his ancestors were rich.
For this reason, Xiao Haohu never regarded himself as an ordinary householder, but wholeheartedly wanted to make meritorious deeds and gain wealth and fame. Since the Taihe period, he has been regarded as a famous and powerful figure in Qianli Bianqiangwang.
Even if the situation in the northern border of the imperial court was in decline and all the armies were scattered into the fortress, Xiao Haohu was still a very small number of officers who could maintain the order of his subordinates in a huge defeat. After seizing Gaoyang Pass, he took this military fort as the center, gradually coerced the surrounding scattered forces, and rapidly expanded his influence.
Since then, Xiao Haohu has been waiting for an opportunity to start over.
Since the end of last year, the imperial court has issued orders several times. Due to the heavy military pressure from the Beibei police, Zhuozhou, Yizhou and other places, the positions of military jurisdiction and patrol envoys under the defense prefectures and governor prefectures of Hebei's east and west routes have been gradually removed. He was promoted to the rank of seventh-grade capital commander.
The commander of the capital is in charge of five hundred troops, and the number of subordinates is the same as that of the military commander of the capital of all prefectures and towns. If something happens on the border, his troops will be the reserve team that the imperial court can mobilize.
It is easy for the court to issue orders, but it is difficult to raise funds locally.
In the past few years, Hebei states have been plagued by droughts and locusts, and troops have been deployed on the border areas. In Anzhou, in the face of frequent conscriptions from various recruiting departments, Xuanfu departments, and general administration offices, it would be an understatement to say that all the land is exhausted. The prison army and the food shooting army have all been mobilized long ago; after years of fighting, not even one out of ten soldiers can come back.
Tu Shanhang is another newly appointed governor. No matter how hard he tried to cheer up, no matter how rich his background was, how could he conjure five hundred soldiers out of thin air when faced with local complaints?
Therefore, Tu Shanhang naturally focused his attention on the defeated soldiers scattered in Anzhou and nearby states and counties. He sent people several times to communicate with the leaders of the defeated soldiers and expressed his intention to recruit them.
The leaders of all the defeated troops were all tempted by this, but only Xiao Haohu responded the fastest. He personally went to Wocheng County to visit Tu Shanhang, and then he did something ruthless, which was to dispatch his capable men to quickly attack and kill many potential competitors.
The activities are in the direction of Ansu Prefecture. Guo Ning, who relies on his bravery and good fighting skills and has always gone his own way, is one of them.
There are several others, all of whom are good men with good reputations. For example, Yu Liye, a Khitan resident east of Gecheng. This person even fought side by side with Xiao Haohu when he was in Northern Xinjiang. But Xiao Haohu didn't hold back at all.
They all blocked Xiao Haohu's way, and he had no choice but to die.
After the news of these people's deaths came out, within a day or two, other villages, villages, and clan forces from all over Anzhou sent people to Gaoyang Pass to express their goodwill. It can be seen that if you want to achieve great things and become a high official, you cannot hesitate, you must be ruthless, move your hands, and see blood!
Thinking of this, Xiao Haohu stopped and stared at the hundreds of soldiers forming a team in the open space in the walled city. Under the swaying firelight, the fierce faces of these soldiers were reflected, as well as the occasional shining reflection of weapons.
The number of Xi soldiers who followed Xiao Haohu and retreated from Fuzhou into Hebei was about a hundred. Later, he recruited a group of strong men one after another, and now he has nearly 300 warriors on hand.
After the autumn harvest, these people were mixed together and practiced intensively for more than two months. The person responsible for training them is Xiao Haohu's right-hand man, Xi Rentang's ancient belt.
Tang Gudai is a very experienced officer. He restrains his subordinates with military laws and practices strictly, which is very effective. That's why a few days ago, the sudden attack on the surrounding defeated leaders was like a boulder crushing an egg.
According to Xiao Haohu's arrangement, these three hundred warriors will be included in the Anzhou Dujun Division as the future low-level officers and backbones.
With these three hundred people, plus the additional people who have attached themselves in the past few days, the staff of the Anzhou Capital Military Division can be fully filled. Even if Tu Dan, the governor, tries to seize power on a whim in the future, it will not shake Xiao Haohu's status.
In the next few years, border wars will only become more and more intense, and it is the time when military generals will rise to prominence. As long as you firmly grasp the strength in your hands and add a little luck, it is not unimaginable to command thousands or even tens of thousands of people!
Xiao Haohu couldn't help but puff up his chest and feel confident.
At this time, Tang Gu came forward to salute.
This man has wild hair and fierce eyes. He is not tall, but he is extremely tall, with broad arms and a round waist. At first glance, he looks like a wild boar or a brown bear. The two exposed forearms were even more sinister and horrifying; not to mention, they still smelled of blood.
Xiao Haohu said to his capable subordinate: "The soldiers went out to attack and kill in the past two days, which was very hard. However, it is not time to rest yet. Just now, Zhu Zhang sent someone to report that Yu Jingchun from Xinqiao Camp was here, and there were still people around him. You have brought soldiers and soldiers. You urge the soldiers to cheer up, but don't let those villagers overwhelm you!"
Tang Gu said with a ferocious smile: "Hundreds of families, don't worry! I'll have the soldiers line up to greet you and show them their murderous intent!"
Tang Gu took himself to make arrangements.
Xiao Haohu walked a few steps toward the village gate, preparing to greet Yu Jingchun.
After all, Yujiazhuang is one of the few wealthy families in Gaoyang County, and it is the first family to come to Gaoyangguan to flatter after Xiao Haohu cleared away many defeated troops, so he cannot wait any longer.
At this time of year, it gets dark very quickly. The setting sun was still shining just now, but now it was already twilight.
Xiao Haohu's men lit more pine torches to illuminate the scene.
As the distance between the two sides approached, Xiao Haohu saw Zhu Zhang and Zhang Jiao being driven in front, like servants leading the way. Behind the two of them, Yu Jingchun, an old scholar with his chest out and his belly out, walked calmly side by side with a tall soldier beside him.
There are still some strong men after that, which are not worth mentioning at all.
But this soldier...
Xiao Haohu stared at him for a few times.
This man wore an iron helmet and a cloth scarf around his neck, so his face could not be seen clearly. But Xiao Haohu is an old soldier who has experienced mountains of corpses and seas of blood. Just from the way he steps, we can tell that this person must be a skilled fighter wearing heavy armor who can leap as fast as flying and fight vigorously!
Xiao Haohu couldn't help but look at it a few more times...
I don’t know why, but it’s really a bit weird?
Did a mere soldier scare me?
Xiao Haohu sneered several times and decided to concentrate on dealing with the situation first.
He summoned a guard: "Take some people and bring out those detained in the water prison. I don't know, today I am going to kill a chicken to scare the monkeys! Go quickly!"
The guard hurried away.
Xiao Haohu recruited another person: "Go and fetch Tat too!"
Isn't Tat also another famous warrior under Xiao Haohu? He also had a share of the credit for attacking and killing defeated troops from all directions before.
But this person has a rough personality and is fond of drinking and womanizing. Therefore, Xiao Haohu did not rely on him as much as Tang Gudai, and usually only used him as the leader of the guard.
At this time, Xiao Haohu suddenly asked, and the guard was stunned for a moment before reporting: "My lord, I haven't come back yet!"
"Where did he go and why hasn't he come back yet?" Xiao Hao said angrily.
The guard was a smart man and immediately replied: "Don't you remember, sir? After the attack on Guo Ning's men the day before yesterday, Ta Bu also took the two Sabo brothers and turned back halfway, saying they were going to kill him just in case. He also said that he planned to find Guo Ning’s headquarters and search for property..."
What search for property? Guo Ning and his gang are famous poor people, what kind of wealth can they have! This guy just wants to take advantage of the absence of his companions to vent his anger on the wives of Guo Ning and others!
Xiao Hao thought about it for a while, and sure enough, he agreed at the time. I have been thinking so much these past two days that I have forgotten.
But who knew that this guy would never come back?
What an ignorant fool! When can't you do that thing in your crotch? If you want a woman, what kind of woman do you want? At the moment when we are employing people, this guy only cares about himself!
Xiao Hao cursed nonsense, shook his head and said, "Forget it! Forget it!"
