@@In the drizzle of spring, on the east wall of Liting City in Qinghe County, under the cover of the simple wooden houses on the city wall, a hundred crossbowmen were preparing their crossbows, and their leader, Cao Shancheng, the governor of Qinghe County One of his confidant generals, the usually solemn Deputy Captain Han Erlang, also turned pale and pursed his lips as he looked outside the city.
The atmosphere in the city seemed extremely tense.
About a hundred steps away from them, on the official road facing the city gate drawbridge, in the drizzle that could hardly block any view, there were two teams of deposed dragon gang cavalry busy there, one team of armored cavalry and one team of cavalrymen. The team rode lightly, with casual movements and relaxed postures. They only talked and laughed around a few people working.
Among them, many knights' horses have bloody heads tied around their necks and behind their waists, and many idle mules still have their stripped armor and pockets hanging on them. Obviously, they came here after achieving certain results. , which is why I feel good.
But in short, just don't pay attention to the strong formation in the city.
This distance is within the theoretical range, but it is not within the range of efficient killing. It takes an absolute master, such as a practitioner, to use a specific powerful crossbow and a hard bow to achieve any results... And this is also the Qinghe on the city wall. The county soldiers and the guard Han Er were afraid of this.
Because among the two groups of deposed dragon army knights opposite, the ones with light armor were obviously just border patrols, but the other group of armored knights all had leather-covered bows on their horses, and everyone had double-armored ones. The quiver, the leader, was also wearing an iconic white short cloak on top of his armor and cloak, and a large "Xu" character was written on the flag next to him.
As the main participants in the confrontation on the front line, both Han Er and the soldiers below knew who was on the other side - a leader of the Chengdan Realm's Deposed Dragon Gang, nicknamed Lujun Daxia.
It is also called Xu Shiren.
Yes, the people who really need to be afraid are the people in the city.
However, the big leader obviously had no intention of starting a war without authorization. They set up four wooden signs on the spot, and then each posted something. Then they rode lightly to clear the way and retreated in an orderly manner.
Han Er also breathed a sigh of relief.
But at this moment, in the room, a young man who had obviously just been recruited as a county soldier, probably because he suddenly relaxed, lost control and pulled the trigger. A crossbow bolt flew straight out, and the nail fell to the On the official road outside the moat.
This scene caused an immediate reaction from everyone in the city.
"Don't move around, hold still!" Han Er reacted the fastest.
And thanks to his shout, only two or three crossbow arrows came out of the room again. As for outside the city, Xu Shiren smiled and stopped the excited reactions of his subordinates...it was really unnecessary, and then waved his hand to urge the knights to leave.
The knights went on the road one after another with shouts and curses. Xu Shiren also got on his horse and galloped out easily.
Seeing this, the people in the city finally relaxed completely.
However, just when Xu Shiren had left the city wall for almost 300 steps and the distance was obvious, he suddenly reined in his horse and drew his bow, and fired an arrow back. The arrow was wrapped with the essence of Duanjiang Zhenqi, and it shot far away. Flying over, from the wall, it looked like a pale golden iron spear flying over... but it was nailed to the stone carvings on the city gate from a distance of three to four hundred steps.
At this time, Xu Shiren just looked up to the sky and laughed and completely galloped away with all his subordinates.
Han Er and others in the city had just come to their senses and knew what had happened.
In a daze, all the county soldiers lowered their heads to look. They saw an ordinary arrow piercing directly into the city gate's inscription stone for almost half a foot. It didn't look like an iron spear at all before, but it penetrated so deep into the masonry, and it was so deep. Yes, it seems even more terrifying, and people can’t help but talk about it.
Han Erlang was determined to stop these brothers from talking nonsense to prevent them from hurting the morale of the army, but he was frustrated when the words came to his lips...
After all, as an ordinary person with a little more knowledge, he knew very well that on the battlefield, his brothers, including himself, no matter how they adhere to their duties, are destined to be just stepping stones when facing a martial arts master like Xu Shiren.
In the past few years after the war, he regretted more than anyone else that he had not gritted his teeth and built the foundation when he was young. Even if it was just a simple foundation building and then ignored it, he still had a thought. Why is it like this? In contrast to this.
Bi, I didn’t learn how to read when I was young, but now I’m slowly making up for it, right?
There was a loud bang on the city wall. Han Erlang came back to his senses, calmed down, and walked down the city wall. After waiting for a while, someone let go of the suspension bridge and looked at the few wooden signs left by the other party on the official road.
It turns out that in order to prepare for the attack on the city, all the surrounding trees had been cut down and the buildings near the city had been demolished, so the wooden sign was a notice board that the Deposed Dragon Gang was forced to put up... I had put it up several times before. ’s... Han Erlang looked carefully at this time, and found that the four documents before and after were all spoken in the typical vernacular of the Deposed Dragon Gang:
The first document is very simple. It is a standard document. It only needs to temporarily add the time, place and military personnel. I have already gone through it three or four times. It says that at what direction and how many miles away from the city and near the village, the invasion of the army took place. A vicious incident occurred in the territory of the Dragon Gang. In line with the principle of stabilizing the countryside, ensuring spring farming, and maintaining business travel, Xu Shiren, the leader of the Dragon Gang, was deposed and the 17th Patrol Brigade directly under the Hebei Military and Political Commander-in-Chief jointly annihilated it. Now the officers and soldiers in the city are required to go Collect the corpse.
Seeing this, Han Erlang became more and more depressed and helpless, but felt a little weird.
Let's say that the entire period from February to March should be the busiest season in Hebei, because this is the season of spring plowing, which is laid out in sequence from south to north.
But what is ridiculous is that this year is likely to be the most peaceful spring plowing process in Hebei in three years. There are no rebels to "fight the violent Wei", no government troops to "suppress the rebellion", and no strongmen to build forts to "gather the victims" . The farmers are just plowing the fields with all their resources, as if they are pinning all their hopes on the crops of the new season - just like what they have done year after year.
And all the people with authority and power are sitting motionless in their own territory, watching the fields that were lifeless last year gradually come back to life.
On the river, merchant ships that had not been seen for a long time began to appear, and bulk goods were traded across regions. But no one knows why this weird scene happened? Or how long this scene will last?
The former question was something Han Erlang really didn’t understand, and the latter question, like everyone else, Deputy Commander Han also understood. Everyone was just sighing, not a real question - because the answer can happen from everywhere." "Emissary War", that is, the content described in this notice and Xu Shiren's advance can be seen.
Yes, during the spring plowing period, a situation that is very characteristic of Hebei is that the official roads are full of dozens of military patrols, as well as similar teams of envoys belonging to different forces, with confusing positions and unclear purposes.
Among them, the former cares very much about the protection of borders and has a strong sense of territory, while the latter often needs to travel across states and counties to reach their real destination... In this process, due to the complex situation between the enemy and ourselves, often It is natural for small-scale and fierce military conflicts to break out.
Blood and death, armor and crossbows remind the officials and people in the fields all the time that this is a gap in the war.
Of course, it also reminded Han Erlang, who has always been smart.
The deputy captain who was born in Qinghe County looked at the place where the battle took place and immediately realized that this battle was probably the result of the officers and soldiers of Qinghe County trying to venture into the plains to intercept someone, but they were discovered by the patrol, and then Xu Shiren's support was ushered in, which led to everyone being killed.
It can only be said that Lord Cao is a loyal minister and filial son.
Han Erlang shook his head and continued to read the second notice in the rain, but was shocked to find that this notice was the answer to a previous question he had:
The notice spoke in the capacity of the commander-in-chief Zhang Sanlongtou, saying that Hebei was temporarily stable because the Deposed Dragon Gang entered Hebei.
Because after the Deposed Dragon Gang came, it first severely attacked the official army, squeezing the military forces in Dongdu and Hejian, causing the two places to greatly shrink their defense areas; and the departure of these two military forces and the arrival of the Deposed Dragon Gang It also gave the states and counties the reason and incentive to develop their own military forces, giving them the opportunity to strengthen their control over their respective states and counties; however, the most important thing was that the Deposed Dragon Gang set an example and set an example, and severely dealt with the docks that trapped the population. Fortress, the rebels who had nowhere to settle were collected, and then they overcame all difficulties to proactively promote and maintain the order of spring plowing.
However, this kind of stability is only a
At that time, the Wei Dynasty regarded the people as trivial, the government imposed excessive taxes, and the wealthy and powerful people were greedy and greedy. They would definitely not be happy to see the people of Hebei live a good life, so they would soon do their best to kill the Dragon Gang and bring the people of Hebei to spring plowing. The fruits were plundered.
But it doesn't matter, because the Deposed Dragon Gang is not afraid of them, and will fight them as soon as possible. By then, the high-interest debts will be burned, taxes and labor will be reduced, so that everyone can continue to farm with peace of mind year after year, and everyone will live a good life.
It's like boasting and propaganda, but also like a notice to calm the people.
Han Erlang stared at it for a long time, and at first he thought it made sense. After he realized what he was thinking, his scalp became numb again, and he hurriedly read the third document with fear.
The content of the third document is simple. It says that the Deposed Dragon Gang intends to eliminate the violent Wei and stabilize the world, so what policy agenda is it working on? So I will be honest here and ask the people of Hebei if they have any good suggestions for government?
No matter who you are, what your background is, what your identity is, what opinions and thoughts you have about anything, you can go directly to Pingyuan County Jiangling City to find the leader Xie Liuyun, or go to Pingyuan City to find Wei Xuanding, the leader of the Deposed Dragon Gang.
This document is actually no different from the recruitment notice posted a few days ago, except that the target of the report at that time was the leader Yan Qing, and encouraged everyone regardless of their origin.
As for the fourth document, Han Erlang only glanced at it twice and then stayed on the spot:
Otherwise, this is a surrender notice. The Deposed Dragon Gang accused Cao Shancheng, the prefect of Qinghe, of forcibly taking the entire county's soldiers and civilians as hostages and resisting the Deposed Dragon Gang, just to gain a false reputation in front of the violent Wei Dog Emperor who launched the Three Conquests. It is really a heinous crime. , and then directly named him Han Er and asked him to surrender the city.
Han Erlang's first reaction was to tear up the paper, but when he turned around, he realized that a few literate men in the army had already followed him, and a few illiterate confidants were also watching out of curiosity, as if they were waiting for him. Use words to introduce.
Of course, Deputy Captain Han himself soon realized that tearing it off would be worse.
"Zhang Laowu, pull out the fourth sign and send it all to Mr. Cao Fu in Qinghe City... Don't touch the paper on it, but hand it over to Mr. Cao Fu with your own hands!" Han Er said solemnly. "Hurry! Do you understand?"
"Leave such an important matter to me?" Zhang Laowu, who had already become a team general, was uneasy.
"It's just because it's important that I leave it to you." Han Erlang was extremely helpless. "Because you are my confidant...after the Three Expeditions, we will be brothers who will live and die together."
Zhang Laowu said no more and just nodded.
After a while, someone dug out the fourth wooden sign, wrapped it in oilcloth, put it on a mule, and then personally led a dozen riders directly to Qinghe County.
Seeing the other party leaving, Han Erlang felt complicated. He turned around and called the others to go east to collect the body. At the same time, he hesitated for a moment, but did not let anyone dig at the wooden sign anymore. He just tore off the paper on it... He didn't want to. Let the deposed dragon army stay outside the city where they are stationed, and simply save the opponent some trouble in advance.
"Throw the sign here, go back and tell Han Er, I know his loyalty, don't worry."
At noon the next day, in the backyard of Qinghe County, the county seat and the county government office dozens of miles away, the drizzle finally stopped. Cao Shancheng, the governor of Qinghe County, was sitting on the porch, looking haggard. Let him guard the city with peace of mind and wait for military orders... The reason why I use him is because he is a prudent person. "
Zhang Laowu was just a timid person and left quietly again.
As soon as the people left, Cao Shancheng sat there with his eyes closed and his forehead held up, without even looking at the wooden sign in front of him... He knew what was written on it without even looking at it, because such a notice was not only for the confrontation front line on the east side of Qinghe County, but also for the confrontation on the east side of Qinghe County. There are posters on various traffic arteries in Qinghe County and surrounding counties. He has received many copies here.
To be honest, he himself never thought that these mere gadgets would bring him such big trouble.
Orders seeking virtue, benevolent government, martial law, etc. are just clichés. They are nothing more than thieves becoming self-righteous to a certain extent. However, he never expected that the other party would use this method of announcing it to the world. Personal criticism.
And the criticisms are repeated again and again, and the scale of the criticisms is getting bigger and bigger.
The origin of the matter is undoubtedly the battle at the beginning of this year.
But at that time, the thief Zhang San only left some notices in the stronghold when the troops withdrew. He only said that he wasted half his life relying on suppressing the rebels to gain momentum, and all his glorious achievements in his life were here, so he only focused on suppressing the rebels.
Then at the beginning of the spring plowing, they began to send people to post leaflets with great fanfare, and at the same time shouted to the soldiers and the people in the fields, saying that Cao Shancheng was recruiting county soldiers for his own promotion and wealth, and was not allowing the common people to plow in the spring, which was a waste of human lives.
Now he was even more straightforward, saying that Commander Cao would not hesitate to kill the entire county in order to please the Saint of Jiangdu.
Among them, Cao Shancheng cared most about the first post, because it was too heart-wrenching. The wasted first half of his life was the most difficult experience for him, who was always proud, but this deeply hurt his heart. Not many people care about the post, because not many people know about it. And the subsequent posts are obviously getting more and more ridiculous.
. He is a county guard, a county guard appointed by the imperial court. Isn't it natural to prepare the army for war and guard against rebels?
Officials and thieves, do we need to discuss it?
But the consequences of the massive announcement were far beyond his imagination.
As soon as the post saying that his war preparations were delaying spring plowing came out, deserters and people who refused to serve immediately appeared. But at this time, he couldn't muster the courage to suppress the rebels that day... because ordinary people would really run away.
But now, with such a ridiculous accusation of incompatibility between officials and thieves being posted on a large scale, he did not know what consequences were waiting for him.
Is it the further betrayal of the noble families and powerful people? Or is it the further alienation of the surrounding states and counties, beggar-thy-neighbor behavior?
Or is it the direct wavering of frontline officers and soldiers?
This shouldn’t be the case, right? The four frontline cities, including Sun Juncheng, Shi Duwei, Deputy Commander Han, plus Xue Wanbi, are all trustworthy, right?:
Governor Cao's worry did not last long, because not long after the man sent by Han Erlang to deliver the sign left, Sun Juncheng, who was guarding Chiping in the evening, appeared in front of him in person.
"How could you come?" Cao Shancheng was surprised. "There are four cities on the front line, and none of them needs to be guarded by guards.
"?
"Because I want to come and ask the Lord personally." Sun Juncheng responded seriously, waving the notice in his hand. "Are we really going to die together?"
Cao Shancheng's eyes became sharp: "What does Sun Juncheng mean? You and I have the responsibility to protect our land!"?
"Whose responsibility is it?" Sun Juncheng was not afraid at all. "Dongdu or Jiangdu?"
"Eastern Capital and Jiangdu are one!" Cao Shancheng was startled. He never expected that he would still be debating such an old topic after two years. "It's the responsibility of Wei!"
"But the people below don't recognize it." Sun Juncheng suddenly lowered his voice. "Master Fu! The thing is like this. I am also an official of the imperial court, and I was appointed by the superior. I understand what you mean, but those county soldiers are sent from the mainland, and they are sent from below... This announcement, It seems absurd, and it seems like a bad thing that we have been thinking about for two years and are too lazy to think about. But for the people below, this is a fatal thing. You tell them about the Wei Dynasty and the imperial court. Normally, no one cares about it. Now you have deposed him. The dragon thief came over, but you are the one to care about it, so the Saint of Jiangdu cannot mention it, because the Three Expeditions are too hurtful to the people, and we have to tell them that we are here to protect our hometown."
"The deposed dragon thief is not just a reminder to them." Cao Shancheng immediately softened his tone after realizing that the other party was a kind reminder. "In fact, it also emboldened them..."
Sun Juncheng shook his head: "Under heavy pressure, not just them, everything is actually unstable..."
Cao Shanzai was startled for a moment, then he realized and smiled: "That's right...it's not that what the thieves said is right, it's that their troops are pressing down on the situation, making people unable to breathe. At this time, whether they use coercion or inducement, they will cause trouble. Even when you talk about so-called truths that don't make sense, there are still people who agree with you for no reason... Are there people in Chiping making noise?"
"Yes." Sun Juncheng was stunned for a moment, then he came to his senses and nodded quickly. "There were several gang leaders and captains, all locals, who started talking to me about this matter. I couldn't hold it in any longer... and it was probably a few team generals who came forward."
Cao Shancheng nodded: "I knew it. This is good. You go back immediately to comfort me. I will go there in person tomorrow and the day after."
Just deal with all those with evil intentions!"
Sun Juncheng was silent for a moment and asked seriously: "Do you really want to kill him?"
"It's not serious at this time. If the thieves come, they will just disperse." Cao Shancheng replied simply.
Sun Juncheng nodded and was about to leave, but unexpectedly took a few steps and looked back: "I heard that Cui is also starting to become unstable?"
This time it was Cao Shancheng's turn to be silent.
When Sun Juncheng saw this, he turned back and said, "Master Fu, don't be confused! In your county, the people below you will not leave any room, and the people above you will not leave any room. Big things will go wrong!"
Cao Shancheng sighed: "Don't worry, I just asked Lieutenant Shi's patrol troops to seal the north more tightly to prevent them from coming and going so unscrupulously... You don't know, they keep sending messengers to the plains, just like walking Just like relatives, that’s too much.”
Sun Juncheng breathed a sigh of relief and then left.
"Second brother... you don't know, Cao Shancheng wants to kill me!" Almost at the same moment in Jiangling City, Cui Ersixulang almost burst into tears, all of which were wiped on his brother. "Today I came to deliver the list of fields and houses. The official road in Zhangnan was tightly sealed, so I walked south from Liting. Just after crossing the border, I was suddenly surrounded by the sentry cavalry of the county under his command. If it hadn't been for the patrol of the deposed dragon army, Riding, Twenty-seven Lang and I almost died on the official road!"
Cui Suchen, who had returned to Jiangling City a few days earlier, was stunned on the spot.
"Is he crazy?" Xie Minghe on the side was also surprised, but then he reacted and turned to Cui Suchen. Cui Erlang, this matter is caused by Cao Shancheng going crazy and has nothing to do with our Deposed Dragon Gang!"
"I know." Cui Suchen came back to his senses and responded slowly. "You don't have to... But Cao Shancheng, according to the situation you mentioned before, Qinghe County has almost become an island. The top and bottom are so tight that he can't sing alone. Coupled with your civil and military methods, I'm afraid it may really be a panic... ...Of course, it could also be Xue Wanbi."
"Follow me to see Zhang Sanlang." Xie Minghe urged immediately.
Cui Erlang nodded immediately.
For a moment, Zhang Xing took a rare break in his residence. After hearing this, he immediately raised his head and made a statement: "Cui Erlang, let me say something first... This matter was not done by our Deposed Dragon Gang. We don't have to, and I really mean it." I don’t want spring plowing to be affected in the slightest. It’s not easy for ordinary people to cultivate land... You, the Cui family, are not worthy of this.”
When Cui Erlang heard the last part, he was convinced that Cao Shancheng was really driven crazy by this person.
