Chapter 998 Hezhou

Chapter 998 Hezhou

Chapter 998 Hezhou
After the beginning of spring, many able-bodied men and women appeared outside the city of Fuhan and began to repair the city.

The reason was that Xin Yan smelled an unusual smell.

After entering April, the arrival of his cousin Xin Mi further confirmed many of his guesses.

"Brother said that Zhang Jun is not like a leader, but I wonder what Shao Taibai thinks?" On the undulating hills, the grass is growing and the birds are flying. The breath of spring is blowing in the air. Xin Yan picked a wild flower casually, put it to the tip of his nose and sniffed it, and asked.

Xin Mi also missed this kind of scenery very much, because this was the scene in Longxi where he grew up in his childhood.

The endless mountains, the fast-flowing rivers, the waist-high wormwood, and the houses and farmlands dotted in the valley were still unforgettable to him even after decades.

At this moment, he laughed when he heard Xin Yan's question, and said, "Shao Taibai has already occupied most of the northern land, so why bother to say more? He conquered this world with his sword and gun, unlike Zhang Jun who just sits back and enjoys the achievements of his father and grandfather."

"After talking about his achievements, let's talk about his appearance. Shao Taibai is tall and handsome, generous and magnanimous, and has the ability to judge people and tolerate others. This is not what I said, but what Wang Yifu said. He is the hope of the world and is also impressed by Shao Taibai. What do you think of the emperor of Daliang?"

Xin Yan wanted to say that Wang Yifu might be exaggerating, but when he thought of his fame, he stopped himself.

"What kind of person is Zhang Jun? Gongming knows him better than me, right?" Xin Mi continued, "Many people know about the rumors about him when he was young."

Speaking of this, Xin Yan couldn't help but laugh.

What kind of person is Zhang Jun? Ever since he was able to control women, he has been addicted to them, arrogant, domineering, and extravagant.

I don’t know if it’s a special fetish or what, but he always likes to hang out on the streets late at night and do lewd and dissolute things, so much so that others follow his example.

In addition, although he was talented and could write decent articles at the age of ten, Zhang Jun's appearance was not very good. Liangzhou people tried every means to whitewash Zhang Jun's appearance, and finally gave only four words: "strange and magnificent."

Such a person would certainly be laughed at or even despised in an age that places great emphasis on appearance and grace.

In a word, you don't look like a human leader.

Xin Yan was a scholar, so his aesthetic taste was naturally close to that of aristocratic families.

Moreover, the Longxi Xin family was not a small family. Did you know the brothers Xin Pi and Xin Ping who once served Yuan Shao? The former became the Minister of the Court and the Minister of Defense of Cao Wei.

Xin Pi's son Xin Chang was a military officer under Cao Shuang.

His daughter Xin Xianying was a talented woman, and married the Yang family of Taishan, giving birth to two sons and one daughter. The eldest son was named Yang Jin, the grandfather of Yang Xianrong, and his daughter married Xiahou Zhuang, the governor of Huainan, and his grandson was named Sima Rui.

Tell me, can such a complicated relationship be bad?

In fact, until the eve of the demise of the Jin Dynasty, there were still many high-ranking officials in the Longxi Xin family. However, when the war broke out, fewer people stayed in Guandong, and most of them quickly packed their bags and ran back to Guanxi. When a crisis comes, people instinctively want to run back to their hometown. Even if they think their hometown is too remote and not conducive to their future development, they will try to stay in the big city closest to their hometown, such as Chang'an.

Before Xin Mi set off west, he met Yang Xianrong once and talked about their relationship. They were distant cousins, so he set off west to persuade his cousin Xin Yan to surrender.

Of course, this is only part of the reason.

The real reason was that Xin Mi had suffered enough from the hardships of wandering, and was very happy to see someone who could restore the old country.

And the fact that this person was not a Hu person made him even more admired. After all, he had refused Liu Cong's invitation at the beginning.

Now he only wants the Daliang Dynasty to remain stable. He serves as an official in the capital and does his part to help the Longxi Xin family grow and develop.

Xin Yan, he must persuade.

If the two counties of Xiping and Jinxing and the Fuhan Camp could surrender, Xin Yan's development would be even better than his, and the Xin family of Longxi would be even more prosperous.

However, Xin Yan was still a little hesitant. After thinking for a while, he asked, "Shu Chong, you said that the emperor of Daliang wanted to appoint me as the governor of Hezhou. How much land does Hezhou cover?"

"The area south of Yanzhi Mountain is all Hezhou," Xin Mi said.

"That means the three counties and one camp of Jincheng, Jinxing, Xiping and Fuhan?" Xin Yan was a little tempted.

"Camp" is a very special organization in Liangzhou, at the same level as a county.

For example, in Liangzhou there was a "Yumen Grand Guardian" who led the camp troops and was directly under the jurisdiction of the governor.

The garrison troops of the Wu Ji Commandery itself also consisted of one battalion.

Xin Yan's official title was "Fuhan Guardian General", and he led the Fuhan camp troops.

Fuhan was not a county, and its land even belonged to Longxi County. Because of his long-term garrison in Henan (south of the Yellow River) and the pressure of war, Xin Yan had already controlled Jinxing and Xiping counties as the flank protection force of Jincheng County.

If the Daliang Dynasty wanted to take Jincheng directly, theoretically, since Fuhan was not on the marching route, they could ignore it.

But is it true? Obviously not. Because they can attack from the flanks and threaten your food supply. If you don't remove them, you can't attack Jincheng with all your strength.

This is his united front value.

So Shao Xun was willing to set up Hezhou for him and appoint him as the governor, but Xin Yan mentioned Jincheng County just now, which was a little different.

Xin Mi explained, "Gongming, this is greed. You can't control Jincheng now. Are you greedy enough to occupy this big county when the army is approaching? Jincheng County has already been promised to someone else."

"Who?" Xin Yan asked very sensitively, "You, Qu or Dou?"

Xin Mi shook his head and didn't answer, as if asking him to guess. This only made Xin Yan more anxious, feeling that he might be sold out.

"Gongming, Zhang Jun has been dissatisfied with you for a long time. He wanted to send troops to attack last time, but it was winter, so he gave up in the end." Xin Mi said, "This time you are lucky to have defeated the Daliang army. Do you think Zhang Jun will tolerate you? If you don't believe me, let Xin Rongli (Xin Tao) ask the Zhonglang Liu Qing what happened at that time?"

"No need to ask more." Xin Yan waved his hand and said, "Zhang Gongting really wanted to kill me, and it's not been a day or two. Liu Qing regarded his dissuading Zhang Jun as a great achievement and asked me for a bribe, so I know the inside story."

"Then why are you still working for him?" Xin Mi asked, "If it was the Xiongnu who attacked, it would be fine. I don't want to serve the Xiongnu, nor do I want to see you surrender to the Xiongnu. Instead, I would advise you to fight to the death. But Shao Taibai is from Zhongxia, and most of the ministers in the court are famous people. This is a dignified court, and it is worth serving. The governor of Hezhou is already very good, why do you want to let you continue to lead these two counties and one camp?"

"Why?" Xin Yan guessed, isn't it because he has soldiers at hand? "I don't want to see your soldiers being wiped out." Xin Mi smiled coldly and said, "It's not easy for you to train some soldiers. Once they are wiped out, the Diqiang, Xianbei, and Xiongnu will no longer be able to control them, and Henan will be in chaos. Think about it yourself, is the situation in Hezhou stable? What will happen if your soldiers are gone? There are still the people of Murong Tuyan (son of Murong Tuyuhun, the elder brother of Murong Wei) in the west."

Xin Yan's face turned pale.

Especially the sentence "I don't want to see your soldiers being killed", which made him extremely ashamed and angry, and at the same time, he felt humiliated and even afraid.

He really wanted to surrender.

******
Wen Qiao dismounted from his horse amidst the blooming mountain flowers.

Behind him followed a group of miscellaneous Hu chieftains, all of them looking very happy.

"Don't accuse me of not paying back my debts anymore." Wen Qiao turned around and said with a smile.

"You are truly a trustworthy person."

"I will play with you next time."

"My Lord, I won't win you by much."

Everyone was laughing and having fun.

It's interesting that the governor of Qinzhou actually gambled with them and lost.

But Wen Shijun was a really good gambler. He never lost his temper when he lost, and he always paid his debts. Sometimes when he came to the tribe, he would bring some silk from the Middle Earth as a gift to everyone.

He has basically traveled to all the counties in Qinzhou, and there are too many people who know him.

Envoy Wen could even call out the names of many tribal leaders. They drank, gambled, and played with women together. In the midst of their conversations, the tribal leaders gained a certain understanding of the imperial court and corrected many of their previous wrong views.

To put it bluntly, in the past, if someone spread a rumor, it might cause people to panic and then start to cause chaos.

Now after listening to what Envoy Wen said, it seems that is not the case and I am not so easy to believe the rumors.

Today, when we went north to Sangcheng, many leaders of the Diqiang tribes were called over.

They brought with them followers, ranging from a hundred to several hundred people, and actually formed an army of more than 5,000 people. They were now camping at the foot of the mountain and looked quite formal.

Huan Wen also had hundreds of men at his disposal.

Because of Yu Liang's recommendation, he was appointed as the commander of Longxi County as soon as he arrived. The state recruited 500 warriors and gave them to him to command, which was considered to be the reconstruction of the Longxi County army.

Huan Wen cherished this opportunity very much. Although he despised these Qiang and Hu soldiers in his heart, he still forced himself to eat and live with them, and gradually became familiar with them.

Now, we still need military exploits to establish prestige——

"Yuanzi, I'm afraid that Fuhan and Jincheng will not have a chance to fight." Wen Qiao gently rubbed the left half of his face and said, "Are you disappointed?"

"Envoy, are they going to surrender?" Huan Wen tightened the bow and sword in his hands and asked intently.

"Xin Yan thinks that Jincheng Dou Tao is about to surrender, and Dou Tao thinks that Xin Yan is about to surrender." Wen Qiao said, "And Dou Tao can't suppress the You and Qu clans, and thinks that they want to use his head to gain merit, and they all want to escape back to their own tribes. With such demoralized people, why not surrender?"

After saying this, he couldn't help but frowned.

He has been suffering from toothache for a long time.

I didn't pay much attention at first and the pain wasn't severe. But starting this year, the pain has gradually worsened and is now becoming unbearable.

After hearing his words, Huan Wen pondered for a long time.

What Wen Gongxiang said must be right, and this analysis is also very reasonable, which makes Huan Wen a little anxious.

He needs to make some achievements.

"You are more addicted to gambling than I am." Wen Qiao looked at Huan Wen's childish face and joked, "Joining the army to kill the enemy and establish a career is a difficult path to take. You should have asked for permission from Yu Yuangui to introduce you to a good marriage, so that you wouldn't have to take a detour. Look at me, I married the daughter of Wang of Langya, and I went from being in debt to having a huge fortune in an instant. Don't you want to learn from me?"

Huan Wen shook his head.

Wen Qiao laughed loudly, but halfway through, his teeth started to hurt again, and his face suddenly changed.

"Sir." A general came over and said, "The toothache is very serious. It must be pulled out."

"How to pull it out?" Wen Qiao asked, his eyes lighting up.

I asked many people in Luoyang before. Some said to pull it out with pliers, some said to knock it off with a hammer or grind it off with a file. It sounds scary.

After coming to Qinzhou, his dental disease continued to trouble him, and at this time he learned a new method of tooth extraction.

When the Di people were gambling, they introduced a great archer, saying that he could use strong bows and crossbows that others could not. They asked Wen Qiao to tie the decayed tooth to the arrow and pulled it out with a "whoosh".

Today, the Qiang tribe came up and apparently had a new trick. He said, "I have a magical donkey at home. It has a bad temper, but amazing strength. My lord..."

"Forget it." Wen Qiao was a little scared and waved his hands.

At this time, several riders from the front came back and reported: "Sir, General Jin from Sangcheng reported that Xin Yan surrendered the two counties of Jinxing and Xiping and the Fuhan Guard Camp."

"Yuanzi, how is it?" Wen Qiao turned to look at Huan Wen and asked proudly.

(End of this chapter)