Wang Liu was not dead, but both of his legs were trampled by the Persian cavalry's horses, and his ribs were cracked. Every time he moved, he grimaced in pain. It looked like he couldn't get out of bed without training for several months.
Miraculously, only three of the ten Laoya soldiers who followed Wang Liu were killed.
Firstly, the protective power of the armor was still strong. Secondly, the Persian cavalry was frightened by Song Heishan and others who came over. They thought that the Zhou army was coming to wipe them out, so they were scrupulous and did not dare to kill them.
By the time Chen Sanlang limped to Wang Liu and the others, Song Heishan and the others had already chased the Persian cavalry farther away, leaving only a half-year-old child to look after Wang Liu and the others.
Wang Liu looked at Chen Sanlang. Although his head was so painful that he did not dare to move, he still smiled at the sky.
"Now, it doesn't make sense not to give me an envoy."
Chen Sanlang didn't know what to say, so he just made a sound and lay down with Wang Liu and the others.
Everyone looked at the gloomy sky at noon. I didn't know who was taking the lead, but they laughed out loud for no reason.
In fact, Wang Liu and others completely underestimated the significance of them stopping Salal's two hundred elite cavalry.
Because at this moment, outside Zhenhu Fort, tens of thousands of Hu people who seemed to have surrendered had already rebelled.
Over the years, the life of these indigenous Hu people has been really hard.
Originally, although they also paid taxes and served the Iqta or Burke gentlemen, those Iqta gentlemen were all locals, often families that had been passed down for hundreds of years, so they were not very short of money, and they still had to pay taxes. If you don't care about your dignity, you won't be squeezed too hard.
But these Han people from the east are basically poor and vulgar killers. They all have loans on their backs. How can they be as 'gentle' as the old Mr. Burke, who drove the native barbarians to death? Squeeze it!
Bullying men and dominating women, buying and selling by force, etc. are basically gay.
Coupled with the language barrier, different customs, different beliefs, etc., it will lead to large-scale resistance, but it is only a matter of time.
Therefore, it would be troublesome if these elite Persian cavalry with organizational leadership and military command capabilities were allowed to enter outside Zhenhu Fort.
There were only more than 200 defenders and more than 3,000 to 4,000 Han people in the entire Zhenhu Fort, but there were more than 50,000 Hu people rebelling outside.
No regular Persian elites have entered, and they have surrounded Fort Zhenhu and blocked nearby traffic arteries.
If there were professionals to direct them, they might be able to pull out 20,000 to 30,000 horsemen.
During this critical period of the confrontation, the presence of tens of thousands of cavalry in the rear area blocking key traffic would really directly affect the battle situation on the front line.
. . . .
Ningyuan Governor-General District, Xining City.
The location of Xining City is Qisai City, the former capital of the Bakhna country, a little northwest of Namangan City in later Uzbekistan.
Whether it is in Zhangzhou or the Khotan Jin Kingdom, which has not yet moved to the vassal state, the status of the Ningyuan Governor-General is a bit special.
Originally, the land of Ningyuan was given to Zhang Gao after he conquered thousands of miles of land for Li Shengtian. After Li Shengtian planned to obtain one million acres of land in Ningyuan, he granted Ningyuan to Zhang Gao and made him one of the two-headed eagles of Khotan.
But things developed too fast later. Zhang Yan quickly merged with the east and gradually became stronger, so much so that he unified the Central Plains. As a result, Ningyuan's political planning has been delayed.
Up to now, the entire land occupied by Ningyuan is about 50,000 square kilometers, which is about the same size as Taiwan Island.
Among them, the rich basin is about 20,000 square kilometers, which is about the same size as Beijing and Shanghai combined.
It doesn’t look like much, but this place is really rich!
The climate has four distinct seasons, a large river runs through the basin to facilitate transportation, and there are mountains and snowmelt rivers all around to ensure irrigation.
Although it can't compare with Jianghuai, Huguang and other places in Zhangzhou now, it is still uniquely endowed in the river.
As for the political model, the current Ningyuan is very much like a military governor. It is a strange so-called governor-general, but it should be more appropriately called Ningzhou Ningyuan Army Military Governor.
Among them, the governor is equivalent to the Jiedushi envoy, and the deputy governor is the Jiedushi deputy envoy. The official positions of those below who are in charge of the military, such as the military envoy and the secretary in charge of political affairs, are simply copied from the previous Jiedushi envoy office.
Then the sixty-seven manor owners at the lowest level correspond to the official positions such as governor, town envoy and so on below the Jiedushi.
At the beginning, Li Congde, the eldest son of Li Shengtian, served as the governor of Ningyuan for a period of time, that is, the military governor.
After Zhang Gao's rise, Li Shengtian wisely handed over the position of governor to Zhang Gao's old servant Zhang Zhong.
Now in Ningyuan, Zhang Zhong is appointed as the Jiedushi envoy, Ma Jirong, a Khotanese Han who is Li Shengtian's confidant, and Tian Xianzhong, a Khotanese who is Li Congde's confidant, are the deputy envoys.
Among them, Ma Jirong was also in charge of the army and controlled 10,000 infantry and cavalry, and Tian Xianzhong was also in charge of the administration.
Under him is Ningyuan Duzhi's military envoy Xue Shouli, who controls 10,000 infantry and cavalry. He comes from the family of the three kings with five surnames, and can be regarded as half of the Donggui sect.
As for the royal private army controlled by Lao Zhang Zhong, it can be regarded as the inner house army or the yamen army, and Dang Jin is the commander of the yamen army.
What should I say about Old Zhang Zhong? In fact, he is quite capable. It can be seen from the fact that before Zhang Zhi traveled through time, an old servant like him was able to travel around to gather a large number of forces.
Don't worry about whether he did it or not. At least if he dared to do it, then he deserves a big name.
In fact, based on the situation at the time, old Zhang Zhong was destined to fail, because Zhang had already lost all legal principles and people's hearts at that time.
Old Zhang Zhong didn't have Zhang Gao's extra thousand years of experience, and he didn't have Zhang Gao's ability to defeat thousands of people. If he could succeed, it wouldn't be Lao Zhang Zhong, it would be Zhuge Liang.
Therefore, Zhang Yan didn't like old Zhang Zhong's ability at the beginning, but after gradually getting to know him, he left him in Ningyuan to guard his final retreat.
Facts have proved that Zhang Yan’s choice was very correct.
During the twenty years since Zhang Gao returned to the Central Plains, Lao Zhang Zhong had steadily protected Ningyuan, the last retreat for Zhang Gao, as he could not return to the east.
You know, Ningyuan is thousands of miles away from China, but it is very prosperous. There has never been a shortage of people from all walks of life who coveted this place. Among them, the one who made the most noise was Li Congde, the Khotan prince.
Not long after Zhang Zhi returned eastward, Li Congde, the prince of Khotan, insisted on becoming the governor of Ningyuan.
Li Shengtian was concerned about domestic stability and Li Congde's face, so he couldn't stop him too much. After all, legally speaking, Li Congde had this power.
At the critical moment, it was Zhang Zhong who took the initiative to give in and personally invited Li Congde to Ningyuan, which resolved this problem.
Then he turned around and invited Li Shengtian's eldest sister and Zhang Shengren's aunt, Empress Dowager Ciyou, who was returning to Khotan to visit relatives, to go to Ningyuan to recuperate.
The presence of this giant Buddha gave Li Congde a hundred courage, and he did not dare to embezzle Zhang Gao's property in front of her. So after serving as governor for more than a year, Li Congde hurried back to Khotan in despair.
However, Li Congde, who returned to Khotan, was unwilling to fail, and with the instigation of his subordinate Wen Wu, he recommended Zhang Zhong to be the governor of Ningyuan. However, the deputy governors Ma Jirong and Tian Xianzhong both followed the Khotan faction.
Then the Khotan army, which was not yet the Jin vassal army at that time, was sent to Ningyuan with 10,000 infantry and cavalry troops, and later expanded to 20,000 people there.
Facing the impending rejection, Lao Zhangzhong took his time and immediately began to negotiate with Yuancong, the capital of the seven Hanshan Mountains who stayed in Ningyuan.
In the end, it was decided that Zhang Gao's cousin Song Zhongyi would be the leader and begin to form the Nei Ya Army, designated Ningyuan Army, in Wangzhuang, which belonged to Zhang Gao under their control.
At the same time, he asked Cao Si, who was born in the Cao family of Qi Yuan, to disguise himself and sneak to Shule to explain his interests to Cao Yuanxin.
Knowing the interests, Cao Si finally persuaded Cao Yuanxin to let Xue Shouli, who was born in a family with five surnames and three kings, and belonged to the Donggui faction but did not return to Donggui, to Ningyuan to take up the post of military envoy to Ningyuan, and controlled the 20,000 Jin vassal troops in Ningyuan. Ten thousand.
As a result, among Ningyuan's 25,000 troops, the number of those close to Zhang Gao immediately increased from 5,000 to 15,000.
At the same time, although Ma Jirong was sent by Li Congde, Ma Jirong was actually Li Shengtian's confidant. Li Congde did not have absolute control over him, and the Ma family was a large Han family, so they were naturally closer to Zhang Tiao.
At this point, all Li Congde's clever tricks have been resolved.
This is his ability. Lao Zhang Zhong easily defused Li Congde's attack without using any drastic means, and without even letting the scope of the battle extend beyond the Kingdom of Khotan, without damaging his harmony.
After repelling Li Congde's intervention, everyone else also died down.
Because everyone realized that old Zhang Zhong was not just an old man who relied on his past achievements to retire in Ningyuan, but a capable and loyal minister who could truly protect Ningyuan for Zhang Xian.
Since then, as Zhang Yan's strength has been rising, especially after he defeated the Gaochang Uighurs and Li Shengtian joined forces with Qiuci, regained Anxi and Beiting in one fell swoop, and completely defeated Saktu Khan, the situation in Ningyuan has been completely stabilized. Come down.
Even Li Congde, who had previously coveted Ningyuan, began to admire and respect Zhang Zhong.
Not only did he send his trusted ministers to Ningyuan every year to celebrate Zhang Zhong's birthday, he also took the initiative to create a bridge and let his younger brother Yanqi Marquis Li Congyu marry Zhang Zhong's eldest daughter to build relationships.
After Zhang Zhong heard about Zhang Zhong's achievements, he also greatly appreciated him.
Originally, Zhang Zhong asked his sons to take Lie as their descendant, because he was originally just a servant of the Zhang family and was not a real member of the Zhang family, so he did not dare to claim to be Zhang Gao's elder.
After Zhang Zhi learned about it, he deliberately wrote Zhang Zhong into the Zhang family tree, recognized Zhang Zhong as his uncle, and called him Zhong Weng in his family letters.
Zhang Zhong's sons, who were originally named Zhang Lieshun, Zhang Liesong, etc., were renamed Zhang Zhaoshun, Zhang Zhaosong, etc.
Zhang Gao treated them as his own younger brothers, and at Zhang Zhong's initiative, the children of Zhang Zhaoshun brothers and other major officials in Ningyuan would rush to the sacred capital of Luoyang when they reached adulthood, with guards at Zhang Gao's side.
. . . .
In Xining City, in the backyard of the Governor's Office, before Old Zhang Zhong got up, Huabu's shouts came from outside.
"Lang Jun, get up quickly. Anxi and Beiting deposed Ambassador Hu Gong and sent people from Suiye."
As soon as Zhang Zhong heard that Hu Guang had sent someone, he got up quickly and asked the maids to change his clothes. Huabu disliked the maids' slow movements and dressed Zhang Zhong himself.
Looking at Zhang Zhong, who was seventy-one years old but still had black hair and nimble legs and feet, Huabu suddenly felt a little happy.
When I was fourteen years old, I saw that Zhang Zhong was getting old, so I was determined to marry this husband who was more than thirty years older than him.
He thought that after Zhang Zhong died in the West in a few years, he could take the inheritance and remarry someone he liked.
But who would have known that Zhang Zhong's health was surprisingly good. Twenty years later, he had five children. He was old and yellow, and he still showed no intention of giving up and returning home.
By the way, Huabu is not called Huabu now, but Huajin, with Hua as its surname and Jin, the noblest person in the cloth, as its name. It was given by Zhang Zhang.
. . . .
Where there are people, there are Jianghu, let alone Zhang Zhong and Hu Guang.
Great men have said that factions within a party are all kinds of things, and they were even more common in the late tenth century.
Specifically, in the eyes of Zhang Zhong and Hu Guang, there was something wrong with Bai Congxin.
There are actually several forces within Zhang Zhang's Yuancong faction.
One group is the low-level officers of the Guiyi Army led by Yan Jin and Ma Yaozi.
One group is the descendants of the Guiyi Army family headed by Song Zhongyi and Qu Wulang who have died in the battle.
The third group is the descendants of Zhang Chengfeng's loyal ministers such as Yin Yaozi and Fan Quan and Fan Shun brothers.
The last group includes bandit factions such as Bai Congxin and Ma Shacai, including Dundup and Qiongre Duojin.
At the beginning, Bai Congxin's status was very high, because it could be seen from the personnel.
Among the 108 yuan that Zhang Gao left with him at that time, the bandit sect not only had top masters such as Bai Congxin, Ma Shacai, Qiongre Duojin, and Dunzhu, but their number even accounted for 108 of the 108 people. There were forty-nine people.
So at the beginning, in Zhang Yan's basic chart, apart from him, Bai Congxin had the highest status, and Yan Jin had to be a little behind.
In this case, although Zhang Yan had long known that Bai Congxin's ambition was to rebuild the Bai family's country and restore the status of the Bai family's royal family. Bai Congxin never concealed his ambition from others.
But in the eyes of Zhang Zhong, Hu Guang and others, there is something wrong with Bai Congxin.
How can a frontier Hu king with jurisdiction over more than 100 or 200,000 people be compared to the founding father of the Great Zhou Dynasty, the second person under the emperor?
That feeling is as outrageous as if one of the elders of the Republic of China in later generations had to go to Zimbabwe to become the president instead of doing it.
Therefore, in the eyes of Zhang Zhong and Hu Guang, loyal ministers who resolutely safeguard the interests of Zhang Shengren, Bai Congxin is a double-minded person who has long had plans, has different aspirations, and is not so loyal.
Of course, Zhang Zhong and Hu Guang should be on guard against such people.
After all, the land in the river will be given to Zhang and his disciples in the future for the rule of Xia and the barbarians.
Now that the saints and disciples have not grown up, Bai Congxin has the upper hand.
If their unreserved full support allowed Bai Congxin to conquer the entire river by himself, would the saint be able to successfully seal the disciples over?
Even if the seal is successfully sealed, Bai Congxin's prestige has reached to the sky. This sky is high and the emperor is far away. Will the princes be the opponents of a famous general like Bai Congxin?
There were so many vassals in the river who followed Bai Congxin and made great achievements. Do they listen more to Bai Congxin or to the princes?
Even the migration of the Khotan Jin Kingdom to feudal vassals will be affected.
Therefore, in recent years, whether it is Hu Guang's Anxi Army, the Ningyuan Army controlled by Zhang Zhong, or the Jin Guofan Army.
Every time it comes to a critical moment, he will appear as a savior to help Bai Congxin make the final decision or turn the tide.
It was the same this time. After three or four months of confrontation, Bai Congxin obviously couldn't hold on any longer.
The Anxi Army did not return to Shiguocheng immediately, and the Ningyuan Army and the Jin Guofan Army have not yet fully mobilized.
Even for Zhang Zhong and Hu Guang, they were not afraid even if Bai Congxin was defeated.
Without Bai Congxin and Lu Sanlang, the two hundred thousand people would only delay the control of Hezhong for five or eight years.
Besides, even if they were defeated, they would only lose 30,000 to 50,000 people, not 200,000 people.
This kind of behavior, how should I put it, is simply damnable in the eyes of future generations!
But at this time, it is difficult to say whether he is good or bad. Even after Zhang Hao himself knew it, he could not evaluate it and could only pretend not to know.
Because Zhang Zhong and Hu Guang were ultimately protecting Zhang Gao's interests.
And in terms of safeguarding the interests of Zhang Yan or the imperial court, they did a good job, because no one could confirm whether Bai Congxin had other ideas in his heart.
This is the reason why many powerful people in history clearly saw their cronies making unforgivable mistakes, but were unable to punish them severely.
If you punish me, there will no longer be loyal ministers who offend others or sacrifice their lives for your benefit.
Everything will become extremely complicated once it involves such great power and interests.
. . . .
The people sent by Hu Guang were his powerful general Li Jixie and his confidant Lu Duoxun. Among them, Li Jixie came to inform Zhang Zhong of Hu Guang's judgment.
His arrival basically means that the Ningyuan Army and the Jin Guofan Army will begin to dispatch, ready to leave Tianmen Pass at any time.
Lu Duoxun came to Zhang Zhong to train in government affairs. In recent years, Zhang Zhong, with the assistance of the civil servants sent by Zhang Zhi, was carrying out reforms in the Imperial Mansion in Ningyuan.
In Ningyuan now, the royal family owns a total of thirty-nine manors, to be precise, Zhang Zhi, and each manor has a very large area.
The small one is 780,000 to 80,000 acres, and the large one is 200,000 to 300,000 acres, totaling 4.3 million acres of farmland and more than 1.5 million shi of grain.
These accumulations were the solid guarantee provided by Zhang Yan for his sons to live in Xia and the barbarians in Hezhong.
Last year, a group of civil servants headed by Song Qi, a bachelor of Qionglin and the right minister of the Ministry of Revenue, who had served as the prefect of Jinan and Guide, came specifically to manage the imperial village for Zhang Xian.
Under Song Qi's suggestion, Huangzhuanghui gradually formed two types of people: simple tenants and guardsmen, in order to prepare for the upcoming westward journey of the princes.
After listening to Li Jixie's analysis, Zhang Zhong glanced at Dang Jin beside him. After seeing Dang Jin, who was familiar with military affairs, nodded calmly, he stood up.
"Xiao Erlang, please go and have a night's rest. I will prepare immediately."
. . . .
Bai Congxin's base camp is located in Heyang Town in the north of Yaosha Shuishui. The 53,000 Han troops are in an irregular oval shape and are scattered on the east, west and south sides of Heyang Town. They are very concentrated. .
This is the fourth month of the confrontation, and the fighting between the two sides is no longer as intense as it was at the beginning.
Just like the night before dawn, both sides have figured out the details of the other party. If it breaks out again, it will not be a small fight, but a decisive battle.
Lu Zhen and Lu Sanlang ran into Bai Congxin's handsome tent and walked around anxiously. He held a newspaper in his hand and said angrily:
"Look, Mr. Bai, not to mention the tens of thousands of barbarians who suppressed Hubao and caused chaos, the Persians actually found our big loophole.
If Wang Liu from Yingchun Fort hadn't accidentally knocked him down and desperately intercepted two hundred Persian elites at Yingchun Fort, we would have died here. "
Bai Congxin took the letter and read it, but a smile appeared on his face, "Haha, Lu Sanlang, have you seen it? This is called luck, this is destiny.
The river is destined to belong to us Han people, so Abu Yusuf's thief has tried his best, but he is no match for the destiny of the Han Dynasty to prosper and perish! "
Lu Sanlang didn't expect Bai Congxin to say that, and his anxiety calmed down a little, but he was still a little anxious.
He knew what Bai Congxin was thinking. Hu Guang and Zhang Zhong had been playing extreme games.
Bai Congxin simply reduced his troops and let the Persians enter the line of Shiguo City-Baishui City-Hushui City-Talus. He pretended that there were fireworks everywhere and could not hold up, so as to urge them to send troops quickly.
"Hu Guang's fellow is far away in Sui Ye, Zhang Zhong is already seventy years old, and his thoughts are even more unpredictable. If they really dare not to come to rescue us, we will suffer a big loss, and years of hard work will be ruined in one day! "
Lu Sanlang still couldn't help but started talking, and Bai Congxin stood up and patted him on the shoulder.
"I guess Hu Guang is definitely not in Suiye at the moment. He must be in Talos, or even arrived at Baishui City. Zhang Zhong is an old man and must have been mobilized long ago. Hu Guang can only send him a message.
Don't worry, they will arrive in time. "
Lu Sanlang sniffed, "Does Mr. Bai really believe that these two thieves killed the talented people?"
Bai Congxin showed a determined look on his face, "I don't believe in them, but in the saints. If others don't know that I am Bai Congxin, the saints will definitely understand.
The saint has given full power to Hu Guang and Zhang Zhong for so many years, so he must have entrusted him with something.
If we were gone, I believe that even with their status, Hu Guang and Zhang Zhong would not be able to escape death penalty, so they would definitely come. "
"Okay!" Lu Sanlang gritted his teeth, "Since Mr. Bai said this, then a certain family will feel relieved.
I will go down and make arrangements right now, and as soon as the Anxi Army and the Jin Guofan Army arrive, I will eat Abu Yusuf, this dog slave! "
(End of chapter)
