At the second quarter of Hai hour.
In the alleys of Suiyang Nancheng, the white snow makes everything around it as bright as morning. The roofs, walls, treetops, and the ground are all covered with half a finger of snow quilt, which looks clean and gentle.
On an equally plain white broad street, a middle-aged woman wearing a warm robe and a large cloak walked slowly forward, holding a gauze lantern in one hand and holding three pieces of warm clothing in the other hand. Because the clothes were all made of thick cotton and fur, they were more comfortable when folded. It looked bulky. The middle-aged woman wore thick clothes, and now she could only hold a bunch of things in one hand, making her even more stretched and unable to cope. The middle-aged woman couldn't help but murmur in her heart that she should have tied it up with a bag just now. It would have been much more convenient to pick it up. But when she thought about meeting her husband later, there must be outsiders present. Although the tied clothes were easy to pick up, they couldn't carry them. In front of outsiders, the uneven marks made by the binding are not beautiful after all. They are far less elegant and dignified than the neatly held hands. They have lost the dignity of their husband in front of outsiders. So she endured the inconvenience and struggled to walk with this pile of things. Fortunately, there was snow, and it was new. It creaked when she walked up, and the path was not difficult. The gauze lantern in her hand was of little use. .
The city of Suiyang was so quiet that one could hear the noisy sound of snow flakes, and the yellow dogs who guarded every house were already fast asleep. The second lady walked like this for another moment, and saw the shabby thatched hut with lights on in the distance.
Just like her husband's mood when he saw the hut, the second lady complained in her heart that this hut was too dilapidated and rickety. What on earth were she thinking? How could anyone insist on living in such a place? The surprised second lady sighed. After a while, I adjusted my condition and settled down with the situation. After all, the second wife is the wife of the county magistrate who has been cultivated for many years. Although she is a concubine, her family has always had a harmonious family relationship, and the wife and concubine can be regarded as sisters. Unlike most other families, the relationship between wives and concubines is very different, cold and mean. Although that husband was enthusiastic and attentive to government affairs and the people, he didn't care much about his own children. Fortunately, although the two ladies are wives and concubines, there is no suspicion and they are sincerely running the family. The eldest wife is older and is married to a matchmaker. She is responsible for the land supply and expenses outside the house. The second wife is in charge of the house. She has to worry about the food, clothing and trivial matters of the whole family. Her children, daughters-in-law, daughters-in-law and grandchildren are all taken care of. She took care of and trained her diligently and appropriately. Both ladies are rare and virtuous housewives. Thanks to the understanding of the two ladies, Zhang Xun was able to concentrate on government affairs and not worry about the trivial matters of life. He devoted himself to learning everything he had learned. Paying attention to the people, he has been able to achieve outstanding political achievements and benefit one party in many places.
This time, Zhang Xun was sent to Suiyang for reinforcements from Yongqiu. Before leaving, he knew that the road was extremely bumpy. After all, Suiyang was not Yongqiu, and Yin Ziqi was not as good as Linghu Chao. In the past, he could not defeat more than ten thousand people. It may be tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands, and one county is no better than the other. The danger has also increased several times or ten times. Therefore, before officially leaving for Suiyang City, Zhang Xun took advantage of the break in the war to relocate his family to Ningling County, not far from Suiyang. His son, Zhang Yafu, and the others could not contribute much if they were not good at writing or fighting. Zhang Xun had to lead the army alone. Naturally, the young and old ladies in the family were worried, so they agreed to let the second lady accompany them so that they could take care of their husband's food, accommodation and daily life. Zhang Xun knew that this act was dangerous and could not bear to implicate the second lady, so he repeatedly tried to obstruct it, but in the end he was no match for the whole family. Concerned, we can only let it go.
Zhang Xun had planned that Suiyang and his party would not care about his own life and death. It would be foolish for the family, old and young, to follow them. Not only could they not be of help, they would also be a serious hindrance. The situation on the battlefield is changing rapidly. In order to win, no matter whether it is the enemy or ourselves, whether it is a conspiracy or a scheming move, as long as it is beneficial to his side, he will rush out to use it. He does not want to be burdened by his family when the time comes, in case he is hijacked by the enemy's insiders. If the family members continue to use this method to force me, I will be in a dilemma, whether to save or not to save. The best solution is to make arrangements in advance and stay anonymous to avoid future troubles. If you win, your family will find you. If you don't win, you will definitely be dead. Whether you are found or not is irrelevant. Ningling County is not too far from Suiyang. The county town is poor and dilapidated, and the geographical location is not important. Neither the enemy nor the enemy pays much attention to it. Hiding the family members here will not be too conspicuous, and the chance of survival will be greater.
Sometimes being poor is not a bad thing, at least no one cares and no one is jealous.
Zhang Xun is a Confucian scholar. In his heart, patriotism and loyalty to the emperor are one. The feelings of family and country are the highest ideal of life for a true Confucian scholar. Killing one's life to achieve benevolence, sacrificing one's life for justice is not a shining example. When the country is in trouble and the nation is in danger, heroes and martyrs emerge in large numbers, and the country's warriors are seen again and again. In his opinion, it is a matter of course and one's duty, and there is nothing to be proud of.
The second lady walked to the dilapidated thatched house and leaned forward to look inside. She could see clearly that her husband was sitting on the floor with a man dressed like a beggar. Both of them were excited and chatting. While talking, you ask me questions and I forget things. The second lady looked at her husband's hands and face that were already red from the cold. There were faint ice crystals condensed by his breath on his eyebrows and eyelashes. There was also a faint frosty look on the long beard and beard on his chest. The majestic metal armor in the past At this moment, no matter how I looked at him, he felt cold and stone-cold. I was in unbearable torment and wanted to rush to him immediately to warm him up. The woman's mind may be so short-sighted. In her world, there are not many people who care about her. Her parents have passed away and her children have married. Most of her concerns are placed on this man. Naturally, she doesn't want to see what happens to him. Aggrieved.
But although she was anxious, she still knew what to do. Her husband wanted to do big things. She couldn't do those big things as a woman, so just doing small things around him was enough. At this moment, Lang Jun and the others were able to talk for so long in such a harsh environment. They must be talking about important matters. She definitely couldn't walk over hastily. Firstly, it would interrupt their interest. Secondly, it would appear to be rude and inappropriate. So... , she put down the gauze lamp in her hand, patted the snowflakes on her body with her free hand, straightened her clothes, opened her hands to hold the handful of clothes, leaned forward, and did not go in, just so quiet stood and looked inside.
Zhang Xun, who was immersed in Mo Sheng's narration of the entire battle, naturally didn't know that in the raging wind and snow, there was a person waiting for him anxiously but tenderly. Zhang Xun didn't know, but Mo Sheng knew. Zhang Xun is not a practitioner. Although he has some skills in boxing, they are just for physical fitness. Today's Confucian scholars still spend more time studying and less time practicing martial arts. Mo Sheng is a cultivator. He has been practicing the art of breathing, breathing and guidance passed down from his family since he was a child. For decades, it has penetrated deeply into his flesh and blood. He has sharp ears and eyesight, is resistant to heat and cold, and is immune to all evils. His inner energy is close to being unified. He can barely do it. Integrating into nature, he can sense the wind and grass within a ten-foot radius. This is called "realm" in the realm of their practice. The larger the realm, the greater the power of nature that can be mobilized, and the corresponding smaller the damage. So when the second lady outside the courtyard came from a distance, Mo Sheng used the wind to sense that someone was walking towards him. When he entered his territory, he could understand every move of the other party. Especially from the short breathing rate of the other party, he had already deduced that the person coming was an ordinary woman, and her breath was not threatening at all compared to the length of their practitioners. But he chose to remain calm, pretending not to know anything about it, and continued to talk and discuss with Zhang Xun, staying the same in the face of changes.
Li Guangbi and Guo Ziyi relieved the siege of Changshan and stabilized the situation in the counties of Hebei. Although Anlushan killed Yan Gaoqing and others, Guo Ziyi was withdrawn to relieve the siege of Yunzhong County, and the main force of Shuofang's army returned to Shuofang, but the storm was over. Since then, the situation in Hebei has been ups and downs, but eventually it developed and grew as Yan Gaoqing planned during his lifetime. An Lushan, who was in Luoyang, must be on pins and needles. He naturally knew that the Tang Dynasty was gathering troops in Luoyang. In time, Luoyang would become the center of the war, and he would also be in a position of being passively beaten before and after. What he needs now is to quickly expand his victory, with Luoyang as the center, launch operations in the southeast, south, and west directions, take advantage of the victory to eliminate or expel the Tang army around Luoyang, and expand his ruling territory. Of course, the most important thing is to move west to Chang'an, and the capture of Chang'an is a landmark victory.
The battle for Hebei between the Tang Dynasty and the rebels had begun with Yan Gaoqing's Changshan. Shi Siming's successive retreats were undoubtedly a huge blow to Anlushan, but why did Chang'an City finally survive in this good situation? Has been breached?
Zhang Xun's question is also a question shared by people all over the world. Although the rebels claim to be 200,000, the real combat force is only about 150,000. They fought from Fan Yang to Luoyang. Although the army did not resist much, there were still battle losses after all. Moreover, after each battle, counties and counties had to assign their own generals and soldiers to station, and then recruit some of them from these counties to reorganize and enlist in the army. Although the total number increased, the actual combat strength actually weakened, and the main attackers were Fan Yangpinglu's veterans. Shi Siming and Cai Xide fought with Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi in Raoyang, Changshan. They entangled nearly 100,000 troops before and after, and then divided the troops to station in Shaanxi County and attack other places. An Lushan's own real Luoyang garrison was only a few tens of thousands. The Tang Dynasty court claimed With an army of one million, it took six or seven months to gather five or six hundred thousand troops. Fifty to ten, An Lushan didn't know the magic of spreading beans to form an army, so why was he not wiped out? It was a huge army. He drove straight into Chang'an City and scared away the two emperors, father and son.
Zhang Xun couldn't figure it out, and everyone in the world couldn't figure it out. Mo Sheng didn't have the ability to answer questions for the whole world, and he didn't have the interest. He could only explain the reason to Zhang Xun at the opposite table.
"The Battle of Raoyang in Changshan certainly restrained Anlushan's large forces, but no matter how good Li Guangbi is, he can't resist the stupidity of others!"
Mo Sheng's words were very rude. Zhang Xun was shocked by Mo Sheng's serious words and stopped for a moment. He didn't answer and waited for the next sentence. Unexpectedly, Mo Sheng did not answer all questions as before. Instead, he raised his head, looked at County Magistrate Zhang across the table, and asked:
"Master Zhang, when did you officially raise the flag to fight against the rebels?"
When asked this question, Zhang Xun was stunned for a moment, thought for a moment, and replied:
"On February 16th of that year, it should have been more than two months since Anlushan invaded and occupied Luoyang. According to Mr. Mo's words, it was precisely when Luoyang was the starting point and the conquest was going on three sides that Anlushan sent his general Zhang Tong. He captured Song, Cao and other states. I think this person should be the brother of Zhang Tongru, a close confidant of Anlushan mentioned by Mr. Zhang Tongmei. When Zhang Tongmei led a large army to invade, Yang Wanshi, the prefect of Qiao County, was shameless and surrendered without a fight. However, the real people under my command Yuan County is under the jurisdiction of his Qiao County. After Yang Wanshi surrendered to the enemy, he actually forced me to be a senior official and ordered me to go west to meet the rebels. Although I, Zhang Xun, do not have a clear mind, I still know what to do. How could I give up when I was humiliated for nothing? How could I join in the same trend with such dishonorable people? So I led the officials and people to cry loudly at the Zhenyuan Emperor Xuanyuan Temple, and then formally launched an army to fight against the rebels. Fortunately, loyalty will never be destroyed, and today Through Mr. Mo’s explanation, I learned that thanks to the imperial order summoned by the two patriots of the Yan family, there were more than a thousand like-minded people who responded to the order like me. At that time, the traitor general Zhang Tongmei happened to be sent by King Wu’s single father Wei Jia Bi. , Langzhou governor Xuanzi's son and others were defeated, defeated and fled Xiangyi, and were killed by Lu Yun, the commander of Dunqiu. At that time, Linghu Chao, the magistrate of Yongqiu County adjacent to me, had led the entire county to surrender, and the rebels The army appointed Hu Chao as general and led his troops to the east to aid Xiangyi. He ordered Hu Chao to defeat the Huaiyang army in Xiangyi, capture more than a hundred officers and soldiers, and imprison them in Yongqiu, preparing to report the results of the battle before killing them. . After that, Linghu Chao went to see the Yan army general Li Tingwang in person, knelt down and licked the rebels, and was willing to be a dog wagging its tail to beg for mercy. Fortunately, the hundreds of Huaiyang soldiers and prisoners took advantage of the lax defense, untied the ropes and killed the guards, causing chaos in Yongqiu City. After Jia Ben heard that I raised the flag to resist, he exchanged letters with each other. As soon as he heard about the Yongqiu incident, he immediately wrote to me and discussed that the two parties would lead the troops to attack Yongqiu in chaos so that they could meet at Yongqiu. At that time, Yongqiu City was already in chaos, and not long after, our two parties had successfully merged together. After taking control of Yongqiu, we counted the troops and found that the total number of the two parties was over two thousand."
After a pause, Zhang Xun seemed to recall the scene of leading troops to fight against the rebels. He was thinking a lot. He raised the wine bottle in front of him and wanted to take a sip, but he didn't expect that the wine in the bottle was already empty. After shaking it for a few times, he couldn't drop any more. Neng smiled awkwardly, put down the bottle of wine, and continued to talk about the whole process.
Zhang Xun told the story in an orderly manner, and Mo Sheng did not behave strangely. The two of them did not argue about the lack of wine in the cup, but the second lady outside the hut was a little unable to bear it at the moment. The husband wanted to drink but could not, and he must be extremely unhappy. Enjoyable. On weekdays, Zhang Xun likes to drink. In his spare time, he would drink a few glasses of wine when he saw good poems. Especially when he read about Li Taibai, he would sing loudly to make him laugh. His expression at the moment did not look like he had read about Li Bai. His face was solemn and unwilling, and he needed a glass of wine to melt it away. Why didn't he think of bringing more wine just now? Damn it. The second lady, who was thinking wildly, was filled with self-blame and wanted to run home immediately to get some wine. However, the warm robe in her arms had not yet been given away, and she was in a dilemma. Nothing could be more painful than this.
While Mo Sheng was listening to Zhang Xun's story, he was distractedly paying attention to the woman outside the hospital. He sensed that she suddenly looked uneasy and was breathing rapidly, as if something was urgent. He was thinking about how to break this situation.
"Linghu Chao, who lost the city, naturally refused. He heard that Huaiyang soldiers escaped and Yongqiu County was captured by us in the chaos, so he had no choice but to abandon the city and leave. In the future, Linghu Chao led a rebel army of 10,000 Five thousand people intended to recapture Yongqiu, but at that time there were only more than 3,000 soldiers in Yongqiu City including the soldiers who were integrated one after another. Lord Jia had no choice but to go out to fight, but was defeated and died due to the disparity in strength. I led dozens of cavalry They left the city and prepared to retrieve Mr. Jia's body. Fortunately, a strange cavalryman was extremely brave. He rushed inside and outside. One man actually tore through hundreds of people and horses surrounding him. The enemy soldiers could not get close to him. He whipped him with a spear and whipped him. Dang Bai, I have never seen this person in my life, let alone that there is such a god in the world. With the bravery of this person, we fought against the enemies and finally returned to the city. We only left the city for a few dozen horses, and returning was no longer enough. Twenty, and each of them was covered with scars and in a state of wretchedness. Only the strange cavalryman was still fierce and mighty. Fortunately, he still exchanged dozens of lives for Master Jia’s body, which was not allowed. The loyal martyr was humiliated. After that, the soldiers elected me as the chief general, so I also led Master Jia's troops. I claimed to be the vanguard envoy of King Wu Li Zhi, the military envoy of Henan Province. I led more than a thousand patriots to defend Yongqiu City. I was lucky enough to attack The rebels fought back and charged many times. Although thousands of people were killed and injured, our army also suffered more than a thousand casualties. Faced with the resistance of our army, Linghu Chao was unable to attack for a long time and had to retreat. King Wu Li Zhi heard what Yongqiu said During the war, he praised me greatly, recommended me as the general manager of the Inspection Commission, and awarded a large reward to the defenders of Yongqiu. The officers and soldiers were greatly encouraged when they heard that the imperial court had rewarded me. It was only then that I gradually understood what military morale is! It used to be so true I underestimated those generals, I am so ashamed!"
Zhang Xun described the ups and downs in a calm tone. From those concise words, Mo Sheng could hear the flash of swords and the flying of flesh and blood. After listening to him finish this paragraph, although he felt the cruelty of war, what he was more interested in was That godlike cavalryman.
"The cavalry commander with ten thousand enemies just described by your Excellency must be General Nanji Yunnan who lifted a thousand-jin stone horse at Prefect Xu's banquet the day before yesterday!"
Zhang Xun was not surprised that Mo Sheng guessed who Mo Sheng was at once. After all, such a distinctive and outstanding person, no matter how deeply he hides, his edge will always shine.
"Yes, it is General Nanji Yunnan!"
"Such a character is so fascinating!"
Mo Sheng is also very interested in the famous Nan Jiyun. After all, with the title of "No. 1 in the world", everyone is interested, and he is also a practitioner. He also has the intention to compete with this "No. 1 in the world" After a while, you can see whether you are shallow or whether the other person is vain.
At this time, the woman outside the hospital had been standing for more than a moment. She turned sideways and looked inside, looking at the two of them with complicated expressions. Could it be that something really happened to this woman and that she should think of a reason to let her in.
"Sir Zhang, I wonder how you, with such a huge disparity in military strength, can achieve victory after encountering the enemy for a long time? If you don't give up, could you move to the courtyard and continue to use the snow to plot the battle situation? I would be very grateful!"
After Mo Sheng finished speaking, he stood up and made a bow!
Zhang Xun was still lamenting the cruelty of life and death in war when he was suddenly confused by Mo Sheng's bow. However, the other party sincerely asked for advice and stood up to salute, so he had to return the salute quickly. It's just that my mind is very clear, but my legs and feet can't keep up.
Zhang Xun was originally wearing armor and had difficulty moving. In addition, he was already half a hundred years old, so he was inevitably slow. Especially in these nine cold days, after sitting for a long time, his legs and feet were numb. He leaned on the table and wanted to get up immediately. I tried it twice and couldn't stand up. Mo Sheng understood his situation and quickly came to Zhang Xun's side. He put one hand on the other's armpit and held his arm with the other. He slowly used force to help Zhang Xun stand up.
After standing up, Mo Sheng let go of his hand. Zhang Xun was still a little unsteady. He leaned on the wall and staggered a few times. He stretched out his fist and beat his frozen legs for a while. He shook his legs and swayed his feet for a while. Just then he stood up straight and bowed back to Mo Sheng. The two of them looked at each other, smiled, and walked towards the courtyard without being polite.
The collapsed courtyard wall, the pure white snow, and the figure standing not far away, it was obvious that he couldn't avoid it even if he wanted to. Zhang Xun looked at the snow light and saw a figure in the snow outside the courtyard. He looked carefully and saw that the figure was someone he knew well. He was extremely confused and walked towards the person.
At this moment, the eyes of the second lady outside the courtyard wall were full of tears. Seeing that her husband was so cold that he could not walk unsteadily, her heart was pricking with needles. But with outsiders present, she could only take back the heartache mixed with tears. She shook off the snow on her body and walked towards the visitor in the courtyard. It was just that he had been standing for too long, and the wind and snow were biting into his bones. When he walked, he was staggering like his husband. The two of them just moved toward each other slowly, little by little.
The wind and snow stopped for a while, but I don’t know when it stopped again!
