Hongnong County, Huayin County.
The cold wind was blowing, and the trees on both sides of the road from Tongguan to Huayin County were already dry.
The heads of Huns were hung on these trees, and flocks of crows flew back and forth on the branches, happily pecking at the undecomposed meat.
The army with flags fluttering was advancing on the road with heads hanging on both sides. Liu Yu looked at the heads on both sides from his horse and felt very comfortable.
"The hundred-mile avenue from Tongguan to Huayin is already covered with Hulu heads. It's such a beautiful sight that I only wish Liu Cong and his son couldn't see it with their own eyes."
After the victory at Tongguan, the Han army captured more than 10,000 heads.
There were also many Hulu who fled into the dense forests of the mountains. These fugitive Huns had no food and no horses. They could not escape except being savages in the mountains and forests.
And the colder winter is coming soon, and the wind, snow and cold alone can freeze them to death.
"Your Majesty, after this battle, the name of the Xiongnu will no longer exist in the Central Plains. Such martial arts are comparable to Xiaowu!" Liu Yan, the governor of Sizhou on the side, said happily.
"Xiaowu wiped out the barbarians and accumulated prestige for a hundred years, but the barbarians who were slaughtered were just bandits occupying a state. With this little credit, how can he dare to boast that he can be compared to Xiaowu?"
Liu Yu immediately smiled and waved.
Xun Sui, the attendant on the side, heard the words and followed up.
"Your Majesty, the Hulu were the most ferocious people on the grasslands back then. Now the Huru are a serious threat to the Central Plains. Your Majesty's achievements are comparable to those of ours!"
Liu Yu clearly knew that his current achievements were not enough to compare with Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty who had sealed the wolf in Xu, but this flattery felt good to his ears.
Liu Yu, who was in a good mood, walked and talked with everyone, and arrived at the destination unknowingly.
The Wubao of the Yang family in Hongnong.
However, it is said to be the Hongnong Yang family, but it is not the only Wubao of the Yang family.
Ever since Yang Xi, the Marquis of Chiquan, snatched one of Xiang Yu's thighs to become a Marquis, the Hongnong Yang family has been prominent in Kansai for more than 500 years.
Naturally, it is impossible for such a huge family to all live together in one Wubao.
"What a magnificent Wubao!"
Liu Yu saw a large fortress from a distance.
He guessed that it should be the Wubao of the Hongnong Yang family.
Although it is not as large as tens of thousands of mansions, the walls of Wubao are comparable to a small city, far larger than the so-called knight's castle.
"That should be Yang Zun who got more than a hundred heads!"
In front of the Wubao gate, hundreds of people from the Yang family were already waiting respectfully outside.
Among them, a strong young man wearing neat uniforms attracted the most attention among the crowd.
"Your Majesty is right, that is Yang Zun."
Wu Xin came forward and said with a smile.
Wu Xin was very happy at this time. Before he intercepted and killed the Huns, he promised extremely generous rewards to these powerful men in Hongnong County, just to let them intercept the Huns' retreat on their own.
Among them, Yang Zun is the best.
Yang Zun not only captured the heads of hundreds of barbarians by using the trick of suspecting soldiers, but also forced Hu Yanyan to lead the army to take a detour and wasted time. He was proud that the chasing Han cavalry attacked and killed thousands more.
"Let's go and meet this Yang family member who was the fourth generation and the third prince at that time."
After Liu Yu finished speaking, he rode forward.
The cavalrymen behind him immediately followed.
"Your Majesty, Yang Zun, meets your Majesty!"
When he saw Liu Yu approaching, Yang Zun immediately led his tribe to greet him with a courtesy.
"No gift!"
Liu Yu immediately dismounted and helped him up.
Yang Zun was very excited when he saw this.
What does it mean that the emperor of the new dynasty treats him so politely?
It means that his military achievements are very dazzling and he has caught the emperor's eyes.
"Yang Qing, the righteous man, defeated tens of thousands of barbarians with a thousand moves and captured the heads of more than a hundred barbarians. He is really a model for the righteous men in Guanzhong!"
As Liu Yu spoke, he looked at Yang Zun. He looked very ordinary, but his heroic aura could not be deceived.
Such a son of an aristocratic family is now in line with Liu Yu's appetite.
After more than ten years of wars and disasters, today's Guanzhong cannot be maintained by the heirlooms of poems and books.
Liu Yu was about to enter and occupy Yongzhou, so he needed Yang Zun, a highly prestigious person who could stand alone in the military affairs of one side.
"It's just a frightened bird under Master Wang's sword, I'm just lucky." Yang Zun immediately said modestly.
Now that he was temporarily appointed as the governor of Hongnong County, this was already the largest official position that Wu Xin could appoint. If he wanted to be promoted further, he would have to be personally appointed by the emperor.
"Yang Zhongjing dared to counterattack ten times the enemy with his weak force, how could he do it just by luck." Wu Xin, who was next to him, immediately helped Yang Zun and said.
During this period of time together, Wu Xin had a very good impression of Yang Zun, a son of aristocratic families, who was not at all comparable to those he had encountered before who advocated vanity.
Now I naturally want to help Yang Zundo with a few nice words.
After entering Wubao, a group of Yang clan elders also followed.
When everyone was seated, Liu Yu continued to speak to Yang Zun.
"Zhong Jing."
"I'm here!" Yang Zun responded immediately. The emperor personally addressed his cousin, which really made him very happy.
"How many chapters can your Hongnong Yang family have now?" Liu Yu asked, staring at Yang Zun with bright eyes.
Hearing these words, Yang Zunzhao was slightly startled, and couldn't help feeling a little panicked.
The elders of the Yang clan below were also secretly worried.
They all knew that this reckless emperor who was born in Haiqu did not hesitate to take tough measures against the powerful people in Guandong. He not only ordered the release of slaves Tian Ke, but also eliminated the ninth rank of the aristocratic family.
What is the fundamental purpose of asking Hongnong Yang now?
When everyone was slightly panicked, Yang Zun stopped being stunned and quickly answered carefully.
"Reporting to your majesty, Guanzhong is in ruins, and the Yang family cannot save Dingkou's property. Currently, there are only more than a thousand members of the whole family in Huayin."
When Liu Yu heard this, he frowned and said, "Is it so few?"
"There are many people who are also descendants of the Yang family, but they have lived elsewhere for a long time, even for two or three generations." Yang Zun replied immediately.
"What I asked just now was about adding Buqu slaves."
"In that case, it should be about five thousand."
"About five thousand, that's not much."
Liu Yu had heard about the Hongnong Yang family for a long time, and originally thought that they should be a wealthy family with a family of at least 10,000 to 20,000 servants.
Now that I heard what Yang Zun said, there were only about five thousand people, I was really disappointed.
"Back then, Duke Wen Chang was in power in the Jin Dynasty, and many of his clan members defected to him. When Jia Houyi destroyed the three clans of Duke Wen Chang, all of these people were implicated and lost their lives."
Yang Zun saw the disappointed look in the emperor's eyes and couldn't help but explain himself.
The Wen Changgong he mentioned was Yang Jun, the minister of Gu Ming and the head of the country who was entrusted by Emperor Wu of Jin Dynasty Sima Yan before his death.
At its peak, almost half of the government and the public were controlled by the Yang Jun brothers, so when Demon Queen Jia Nanfeng staged a coup, the entire Hongnong Yang family suffered a severe blow.
"Well, in fact, five thousand steps is already a lot. If we include women, children, the elderly and the weak, wouldn't there be 20,000?" Liu Yu said.
"I haven't calculated it, but it should be about the same." Yang Zun said.
"Haha, okay!" Liu Yu said with a smile, stroking his palms.
"In that case, it's easy to handle. I have an important task here that I'm afraid will fall on your head."
After hearing Liu Yu's words, Yang Zun knew that no matter whether it was good or bad, it would eventually come.
"I am terrified. How dare you disobey Your Majesty's orders?"
Liu Yu nodded with satisfaction and said.
"I want to appoint you as General Longxiang and the governor of Anding County. As for the soldiers, there is no need to bother recruiting. Just turn Yang's tribe into a garrison."
"I'm afraid that Anding County can't place so many soldiers. Can you recommend another person from the clan who has both talent and virtue? I will appoint him as the governor of Bingzhou and lead his troops to guard Bingzhou."
When Yang Zun heard Liu Yu's decision, he was immediately surprised and stunned.
This news is simply too surprising.
So much so that it’s hard to say whether it’s good news or bad news.
In fact, for a family as large as the Hongnong Yang family, the relationships between each other vary greatly. It does not mean that if one person becomes prosperous, the rest of the clan will be taken care of.
For example, Yang Zun's branch has not produced a high-ranking official of 2,000 shi for two generations, so the official position of a prefect of Anding County plus General Longxiang is considered to be very satisfactory.
However, what Liu Yu said about leading troops to defend Anding County was to ask the Hongnong Yang family to move elsewhere.
Although it will provide a lot of benefits, for a wealthy family that has been in business for hundreds of years, this is simply a fatal move.
"Your Majesty, although Anding County is not far away, there are too many old and weak people in the clan, so I'm afraid they won't be able to adapt to the fatigue." Yang Zun couldn't help but tactfully evade.
"Anding County is naturally not far from Hongnong County. I have already thought of this when I did this." Liu Yu said with a smile.
"Anding County is a frontier fortress after all. It's better for me to lead a thousand troops to accompany you, while the rest of the old and weak stay in Hongnong."
Yang Zun said worriedly.
Anding County is close to the Qiang and Hu tribes in the north. These people are inherently dishonest bandits. When the Yang family goes to control the area, they don't know how many casualties they will suffer.
"Hahaha, Anding County used to be a frontier fortress, but it won't count anymore." Liu Yu laughed.
"What do you mean by your Majesty's words?" Yang Zun asked immediately.
"General Gou Xi of Chang'an has conquered all the Qiang and Hu commanders in Chang'an. All the Qiang and Hu commanders in the north have surrendered. Naturally, Anding County can no longer be considered a frontier fortress."
"The Qianghu have always been unfaithful. I'm afraid they will do it again." Yang Zun said worriedly.
"What Zhong Jing said makes sense, so that's why I want you to go and defend Anding County."
Liu Yu felt a little dissatisfied.
In fact, these powerful families are all the same. When they see official positions and titles, they are all enthusiastic and active, but once they are asked to move out of their homeland, they are all resistant.
However, the Hongnong Yang family is almost the benchmark for the Guanzhong family. He must win over the Hongnong Yang family, otherwise he will not be able to control other powerful people in Guanzhong in the future.
"The Hongnong Yang family is number one in both civil and military affairs, so it is most suitable."
"I will go north to educate these Qiang and Hu, and make them completely surrender and become the minions of the Han Dynasty."
"To deal with these Qiang and Hu barbarians, just using culture and education is definitely not enough. Now Yang Zhongjing has the reputation of having more than a thousand soldiers and horses to fight against tens of thousands of barbarians, which should be absolutely enough."
"At the very least, the Qiang and Hu will not dare to repeat it rashly. Even if the Qiang and Hu have any unusual movements, I believe Zhong Jing's talent can be enough to deal with it."
After hearing Liu Yu's tough tone, Yang Zun knew that this matter was inevitable.
At this moment, he just wanted to give himself a slap in the face. The official positions of the Prefect of Anding County and General Longxiang were not easy to obtain. He was using his family's capital to fight for it.
Yang Zun couldn't help but regret a little. If he had known this, when he reported the military merits, he should have included the powerful fellow countrymen who were cheering from the side. In that case, it wouldn't be like "a thousand people break ten thousand".
