It was a hot summer day, and the horses inside the city gate seemed to be greedy for the shade here, snoring and slowing down by more than half.
"grown ups."
"Second Commander."
There were voices all around the horse who came up to say hello, and Geshan walked past them with an expression on his face.
The light behind the city gate was dim. Geshan squinted his eyes and looked over the heads of these people to the wall behind them. Time can dilute many marks. On those blue bricks, the marks of knife and ax cuts would have been difficult to find unless you specifically looked for them.
Geshan still remembers when he first joined the army. At that time, he was just a young boy. His favorite thing to do was to get close to the old captain and listen to him tell the story of Suzaku City being affected by the war.
How many years ago was it?
Ge Shan sighed with regret. In the nine states of the dynasty, only the capital city of Youyan Prefecture, Suzaku City, had an inner and outer city. In the historical dust that had long been piled up in the dark corners of the warehouse, the current inner city was once the original site of Suzaku City. It has been attacked by Tiannan rebels several times.
The most recent time was hundreds of years ago, when the entire city was almost burned to the ground, leaving only these walls that could not be burned through by fire.
It can be said that Suzaku City was built among ruins and fires.
Generations of soldiers have guarded it, and countless people have lived and died here, and it will continue to do so.
Today's inner city has become an existence like an iron wall due to Bai Hao's deliberate efforts in the past ten years.
Geshan thought of this, stopped his horse, looked at the leading general who defended the city, and said calmly: "If I remember correctly, you should be in the Guards, right?"
The personal guards of Suzaku City are responsible for protecting the city lord, and the much larger evil city defense force is responsible for both the inner and outer city gates and the safety of the city.
The general who was at the front had just shouted to him with great enthusiasm. When he was asked this question, his face was about to show up and he was flattered, but he immediately suppressed it. He leaned in front of the horse and said with great grievance. "Second Commander, please be aware of this. I would rather return to the Guards as the lowest-ranking corps commander than be the city gate general who welcomes people and sends them off."
Since leaving the Guards, Geshan has been extremely conscious and has not taken the initiative to ask about anything in the Guards. However, from the mouths of the sworn brothers Yan Qing, he also knows about the recent changes in the Guards.
Because Qingyun Street suffered heavy losses, one of the battalion commanders who commanded five hundred personal guards was directly assigned to the awkward position of guarding the city gate. The one who came to see it was the one in front of him.
"You are already a general now, have you been promoted? Why are you still looking so ugly?"
"The second commander is deliberately trying to clean me up, Xiong San..."
Xiong San, who has been given the title of a miscellaneous general, has a wry smile on his face. He has not had the face to meet his former comrades in recent days. He only feels that the title of this miscellaneous general is the greatest humiliation for him. It is like changing from a vanguard to a soldier. Become a logistics cook.
With a wave of his hand, those men who wanted to continue to join in the fun immediately returned to where they were supposed to be. Geshan took a look, and there was no need to ask. Those personal guards who were also relegated to the city gate were always faster than those on the city defense. The soldier's strength improved a few levels, and his face looked better now.
Xiong San thought there was something going on, so he took the initiative to hold the horse for Ge Shan, and begged: "Second Commander, this city gate general is just a disgusting person who welcomes and sends you off. You see, there is still hope for the general to return to his bodyguard." ?"
Geshan glanced at him coldly: "The Guards only have one commander, not to mention that I have left now. You may be asking the wrong person."
The man looked a little flustered, scratching his big face in a hurry, but he didn't know how to speak.
It was Geshan who took the initiative and said, "Since you think you were demoted here, you should know the reason."
"Of course, Qingyun Street..." Xiong Shan saw Ge Shan's cold face and did not dare to continue. Instead, he began to complain about the strength of the enemy he encountered that day.
Geshan snorted coldly: "You also know how powerful the enemy you encountered that day was, so what are you doing as the first step in guarding the inner city?"
Just now, when he was still far away from the city gate, Xiong San had already moved away the iron vines and horse-rejecting stakes in front of the city gate. His disgusting attitude of following others' influence was comparable to those of the administrative officials in the inner city.
Anyone who has been in the army knows that things will not turn around if you can ignore the commander's warning and scolding. Xiong San stood beside the horse's head and stopped moving. He lowered his head and listened, feeling more like a grandson than a grandson. .
Ge Shan looked down at Xiong San who came to the door, and asked softly: "How many personal guards did you bring to the city gate?"
Xiong San raised his chest and replied quickly: "There are more than twenty people in total."
Geshan lowered his jaw slightly, looked at the sparse defense at the city gate, and frowned: "They are not here now?"
"Well - except for the five members of my personal guard, I sent everyone else out." Xiong San said.
Ge Shan thought quickly in his mind. Generally speaking, a city gate general like Xiong San has about 800 people under his command. After forming a patrol team, there are only a few dozen people at the city gate.
"Call them back and guard the city gate with you."
"no problem!"
Xiong San patted his chest and agreed quickly, but there was some hesitation on his face, not knowing how to speak.
Geshan saw his unspoken thoughts clearly at a glance, and sneered: "What? Now that you have two to three hundred more people under your command, you still have some enjoyment, right?"
Xiong San smiled and said: "Second Commander, if I call all the brothers of the personal guard to guard the city gate, let alone what they think, I will no longer be able to control the city defense troops under my command."
"Don't you want to return to the Guards?" Geshan reminded him: "The safety of the inner city is the top priority of the city lord. The city lord will send you here. On the one hand, it is true that you performed poorly on Qingyun Street. , on the other hand, it also shows that the city lord attaches great importance to this place. After all, everyone knows what the city defense army is like, and our personal guards."
Xiong San grinned. Just by saying "our personal guards", Xiong San was willing to believe in Xiong San's arrangement, and he puffed up his chest and agreed.
"Very good. Guard the city gate more closely. This may be a key opportunity for you to return to the bodyguard."
"Don't worry, Second Commander. I, Xiong San, will follow your orders, as long as I can fight with my brothers who are facing each other."
Ge Shan's eyes were bright and he said in a deep voice: "Remember, the city defense army has been eroded by the wealthy families in the city for many years and has long been reduced to a puddle of mud. Now that you are guilty of meritorious service, you should wake up and never join in with them. .”
As the commander of the personal guard battalion capable of commanding five hundred people, Xiong San just consciously lowered the frequency of his own thinking in front of Ge Shan. At this time, he heard Ge Shan's words and combined with the recent rumors, he immediately understood the meaning of Ge Shan's words. She looked more and more respectful towards him.
"It's good to know some things, but never make them public."
"Second Commander, don't worry. It's just that there are only so many brothers who are willing to follow me to this poor place. Even if they are to guard the city gate, it's not enough. Do you think you can..."
Ge Shan narrowed his eyes slightly and looked at him condescendingly. In the silence, Xiong San was so nervous that he retreated unconsciously.
"Are you loyal?"
When Xiong San heard this understatement, he suddenly felt blessed. He stepped in front of the horse, took the reins again, and said in a deep voice: "I am willing to serve as a pawn on the horse."
Ge Shan threw a token to Xiong San, "What happened today is a gamble for you and me, but even if we lose, the only person who will die will be you. Take this token to find Lao San, Just say I will give you fifty people as promised."
Anyone who has been in the Guards for a while knows the nine people headed by the commander. Xiong San carefully and eagerly put the token into his arms and said hesitantly: "It's just that if it's just enough to be afraid of eighty people, It’s also impossible to guard the city gate.”
After staying in the inner passage of the city gate for at least half a cup of tea, Geshan did not intend to explain any more with the randomly obtained chess pieces. He said casually: "What we need is a visible attitude and momentum. These eighty people are enough." .By the way, you just took office today, right?"
Geshan has frequently traveled to and from the inner and outer cities recently, and is still very confident in his memory.
Xiong San nodded and said flatteringly: "Your Excellency, you are as good at predicting things as you are."
Geshan asked: "Where were the young adults and children sent to the inner city today?"
Xiong San was just getting familiar with the issuance procedures in the inner and outer cities today. He thought for a moment and answered: "My lord, those people were all sent to Xiudefangfang in the inner city."
"Xiudefang..."
Geshan squinted his eyes slightly, and a map of the distribution of the nineteen squares in the inner city suddenly appeared in his mind.
Xiudefang is located northwest of the City Lord's Mansion, just across the street from the City Lord's Mansion. There are many relief places built in this workshop. Recently, under the instructions of the City Lord, it has been intensively built to provide pensions for the families of the dead soldiers. Don't think there's any problem.
But it was exactly this matter that made Xie Xiu escape from his investigation...
"Second Commander, is there something wrong?"
Being able to share the worries of those in power is one of the most effective ways to be promoted to a confidant. Seeing Geshan's sudden silence, Xiong San ran to the city gate, holding on to his men and asking questions.
When he returned to Ge Shan, he was indeed very excited. When Ge Shan looked at him silently, Xiong San immediately came forward and said briefly and horrified: "Sir, to be honest, I told you three days ago I was supposed to be on guard duty at the city gate, so I missed some things.”
"Although these young men will build the pension hall first, they will not be allowed to go back at that time. They will be allowed to directly expand into an army."
"That's it?"
Ge Shan had seen this method of recruiting troops before many times. He raised his eyebrows and was about to drive away.
Xiong San quickly pulled the reins, raised his eyebrows and said with a smile: "There is a boy in the city defense army here, and his brother is in the escort team. When I asked about it just now, the boy hesitated and refused to say more. , but as soon as I offered him an official position, he sold his brother out, saying that some young and strong men were sent directly to the prison next to him."
Geshan's eyes suddenly condensed. The Tianlao was located underground in Andingfang, and Andingfang was right in front of Xiudefang.
"What did they commit?" Geshan asked.
Xiong San shook his head: "These young men were all promised heavy rewards to build the pension hall and the city lord's palace. Everyone is a person with a clean family background."
Geshan's eyes flashed.
Those who did not commit any crime were sent to prison.
The reason why Xie Xiu asked him to investigate this matter was that in the area run by the Xie family, most of the lonely men were sent to the inner city.
The Xie family had already sent several skilled soldiers into the city, but there was no news.
There must be something fishy here!
When Ge Shan looked back at Xiong San, he ordered: "You must control the person you just talked about. Now just pretend that this didn't happen. Can you do that?"
Xiong San's whole body was agitated and he nodded in a muffled voice.
"Very good." Ge Shan turned around and looked at the bright sky outside the city gate, and said softly: "Xiong San, you will have a prosperous future, as long as you do what I say."
Xiong San said categorically: "The last general is willing to die!"
