Fu Song

Chapter 244
Standing on the wall of Siwu Pass with his hands behind his back, Ma Xing looked down at the endless mountains in front of him, filled with emotion in his heart.Since the year before last, how many people have died surrounding this Siwu Pass!
Now, he has finally returned to the hands of officers and soldiers.

The significance of the reoccupation of Siwu Pass is not only that the rebellions in Xiazhou, Shizhou and other places have been suppressed, but more importantly, the officers and soldiers have regained the key to enter and exit Hengshan.

Standing on one side, Li Du, who was slightly behind, looked at the thin figure in front of him with admiration in his eyes.

The appeasement envoy in front of him was so courageous that he followed Zhang Yunsheng back to Siwu Pass with only a dozen guards, without any worry that he would go back and detain him.

"Bachelor, it's windy and cold in the city, let's go inside and talk!" Li Du bowed his hands in invitation.

Ma Xing looked back at him, but said: "Although the wind is cold, it can make people more clear-headed. A clear-headed mind can help us make more accurate judgments, so that we will not act indiscriminately when our minds are dizzy for a while." Li Du, whether you or I, the lives of tens of thousands of people are in their hands, one of our mistakes, do you know how many people will die?"

Li Du's face changed slightly, and he bowed and said, "Li Du is guilty, and Li Du is willing to accept the crime!"

Ma Xing sighed, turned around, but held two handfuls of snow on top of the battlements with both hands, made balls in his hands, and threw them towards the city with all his strength, watching the two snow balls shatter into snow flakes again .

"From the bottom of my heart, I am very angry at people like you. For the sake of selfishness, thousands of people are disregarded, arbitrarily fighting, and doing all kinds of evil. Li Du, if nothing else, it is you Beheading your head ten times is not an exaggeration for what you did in Suide!"

Li Du bowed his body without saying a word, but the generals around him suddenly changed color, and they were even more impatient, with their hands on the handles of their waists.Ma Xing didn't even look at them.

"But, for the sake of the overall situation, sometimes I have to do things that I don't like." Ma Xing continued: "The official position is getting higher and higher, but such things are being done more and more. Ordinary people You can be kind and friendly, but I can't."

Li Du interjected: "Scholars are like this, so why aren't we like this? It's not my original idea, Li Shi, to get to where I am today. It's just one step at a time, and I can't help it!"

"If you are not ambitious, if you are loyal, how can you get to where you are today?" Ma Xing sneered: "Li Du, do you know that as long as this pacifier gives an order, so what if you have tens of thousands of troops? So what if you occupy Siwu Pass? You will still be defeated forever."

Li Du smiled and said: "This general will naturally believe it. Under the command of General Manager Xiao, there are more than [-] cavalry alone, and they are all from Dangxiang, Tubo, and Huihe. This vast sea is indeed insurmountable for infantry It's a natural danger, but it's nothing to the cavalry. As long as they appear in Xiazhou, Wang Zhi's army at Siwu Pass will attack with a large army. With the current morale of our Dingnan army, I'm afraid they will be defeated soon."

Ma Xing's face turned ugly.

He stretched out his hand and dragged the bundle of feathered arrows on the top of the city, and sat on it.

"Sit down too!"

Li Du sat down on the ground directly, with his legs crossed and his hands on his knees.Then he looked back at the generals behind him, waved his hands and said, "You all go down!"

The people headed by Zhang Yunsheng hesitated for a moment, and finally reincarnated under the city wall.

"How did Li Xu die?" Ma Xing asked.

"Half of it is because of the defeat at the hands of Xiao Ding, and the destruction of more than ten years of business, and the other half is because of the unbearable humiliation. My elder brother is a hero, but in the end he was treated as a tool man, and he was constantly driven to flee. , It turned out to be the mouse under the cat's claws." Li Du bowed his head and said: "The two intertwined, and finally died of illness in an unknown town in Suzhou."

"Did you decide to be recruited by the court because of Li Xu's death?"

"Of course not!" Li Du's eyes flashed sharply, "It was the elder brother's decision before he died. Bachelor, to be honest, if it wasn't for this letter from elder brother, I would have already prepared to lead my troops to the Liao Kingdom."

"Go to the Liao Kingdom?" Ma Xing sneered: "Became a lost dog, and went to the Liao Kingdom, but it's just like a pig and a dog to be driven by others."

"That's why I have been hesitating until my eldest brother sent a letter." Li Du said: "Scholar, I, Mrs. Li, have a sworn feud with Xiao Ding."

"Director Xiao killed the rebels, and opened up the territory for the country. Now the Hengshan party has surrendered, the Tibetan horses are no longer there, and Qingtang and Hehuang are all returned to the country. On the Northwest Road, the frontier has been completed. Lu Faliao is almost ready!" Ma Xing looked directly at Li Du: "What do you mean by that?"

Li Du lowered his eyelids, and said: "Scholar, Director Xiao is indeed a good general. Although he is an enemy, Li Du still admires him. However, Bachelor, the strength that Director Xiao currently holds in his hands far exceeds that of my Li family." That year."

"You, Li Shi, have evil intentions, but Director Xiao is loyal and loyal at the top of the court!"

Li Du raised his head with a smile: "The bachelor is right, but after experiencing my Li's incident, the bachelor must have some other ideas, right? The land of Xingling, the richness of the river, that is really a good place! Think I, Mrs. Li, was ordered to go out of Hengshan to manage Xingling Land, and there was no one to check and balance, so the power became more and more tyrannical, and this is why I have the ambition that the bachelor said. It is very similar to today's Director Xiao. The difference is that the current Xiao The manager's courage is much greater than ours."

"Go ahead!" Ma Xing said calmly.

"The Hengshan party bowed its head, and Qingtang Tubo was defeated." Li Du continued: "The land under the control of Director Xiao is no less vast than that of the state. What is lacking is only people. Given time, what should we do? So I think, the bachelor must have a force to check and balance Director Xiao, please forgive me, at this moment, besides my Li family, who else can do this for the bachelor? Wang Zhijun? He is under Director Xiao Come out. Is Commander Li? Can he be the opponent of Director Xiao? On the Shaanxi Road, besides these two generals, do you have any other generals you can fight?"

"The imperial court's order..."

"Why bother to lie to me, a bachelor? If the court can transfer Xiao Ding away with a single order at this time, then why not I, Li Du, give this head to the bachelor?" Li Du laughed: " It’s easy to transfer the next paper, but it’s not only what the academics don’t want to see, but it’s definitely not what the court wants to see, right?”

Ma Xing fell silent, this was not just a matter of puncturing the window paper!

If it was the previous imperial court, naturally they would not be afraid, but now, the Great Song Dynasty is really precarious!
A big defeat in Hebei completely wiped out the foundation laid by King Jing over the years, and the current form of Bianliang can be said to be full of wind and rain. At this moment, if something happens in the northwest, it will be terrible. It's really falling apart.

As Li Du said, if the imperial court really sent Xiao Ding an order, but Xiao Ding did not obey the order, how could the imperial court deal with itself?What will Xiao Ding do next?
No one dared to bet on it.

"But you are not Xiao Ding's opponent!" Ma Xing sighed: "Looking at the world, it is really difficult to find a general who can fight against Xiao Ding."

You can't get people like Taiwei Zhang Chao on Shaanxi Road just because of some suspicions. So what's the difference between this and the lowering order?

"That's not certain!" Li Du raised his head and said, "With the power I have now, I am naturally far from being Xiao Ding's opponent, but I have surrendered to the imperial court, and I have the imperial court as my backing." , soldiers, horses, food, and equipment will pass through Siwu Pass and leave Hengshan without a break, so it is still unknown who will win the battle?"

"And bachelor, what you need is checks and balances, right? From your heart, of course you don't want Xiao Ding to do something? What you want is to restrain Xiao Ding and make him fearful. That's it , I, Li Du, are confident that I can still do it with ease."

"You're right! Of course I don't want Xiao Ding to have any troubles. I'm still counting on him to become the main force in the Liao attack! Can I still count on you?" Ma Xing said. "But as you said, power needs to be checked and balanced. Even if it is an official family, there are two governments above the court to persuade them, and they cannot act arbitrarily, let alone the ministers below? Moreover, this is also for the good of Xiao Changqing Li Du, if you have any request, you can make it now."

Maybe Ma Xing didn't expect that his ordinary tour this time unexpectedly solved Li Du, who had been besieging Shaanxi Road all this time, and more importantly, it also made the road that had been lingering in his heart incidentally. Difficulties, there are some possibilities to resolve them.

Does Ma Xing now think that Xiao Ding is up to no good?
of course not.

It's just that in the eyes of old bureaucrats like Ma Xing, the structure of officials should be one that checks and balances each other.Only in this way can the operation be stable and safe.Power without checks and balances is very dangerous. It is very easy for those who hold power to have no scruples and do whatever they want.

Of course, such a thing cannot be tolerated by an official like Ma Xing.

In the final analysis, the Great Song Dynasty was a country in which literati were in power. They designed a complicated system of officials and service systems, which restrained each other, and even officials could not do whatever they wanted.

The emergence of Li Xu has already made them extremely vigilant, and now there is a stronger Xiao Ding, how can they not be worried?
How can we repeat the same mistakes?
Naturally, it must be controlled.

If Hebei's Undefeated is so miserable, then there are still a lot of cards in their hands, and now that Hebei has suffered a crushing defeat, this makes Xiao Ding's team all the more critical.

Shaanxi Road is under the jurisdiction of the capital!

This is the new official position that Ma Xing promised Li Du.

This position, in name, is in charge of all the soldiers and horses on the entire Shaanxi Road.

In other words, the current Li Du has transformed from a traitor to the boss of Li Dan, Wang Jun and others.

Li Du will go to Yan'an Mansion to serve as the pacifier, but his soldiers and horses will be stationed in Xiazhou, Shizhou and other places. Naturally, Li Du's confidants will be in charge of the army, and the governors of these two states will also be able to Recommended by Li Du.

"Wang Jun and Wang Zhijun will be very angry!" Cheng Gui was a little worried: "Over the past year, his subordinates have fought a lot with Li Du's subordinates, and the two sides have a deep hatred. I'm afraid it won't be too comfortable! Bachelor, the soldiers and horses on Shaanxi Road are actually divided into several forces, and if something really happens, I'm afraid it will be difficult to form a joint force."

"Li Dan's temperament is indifferent, he doesn't like to fight for power, but he is loyal, he is a general who can be reassured." Ma Xing said with a smile: "So there should be no problem for him to get along with Li Du. Above major issues, he is very clear-headed. As for Li Du, there is no other way to go now. If he really wants to mess around, Xiao Ding can easily destroy him by returning to the army. He knows where his role lies. As for Wang Jun?"

Ma Xing laughed: "I'm going to let him go to Hebei! Now the border generals in Hebei are either killed by the Liao people, or killed by Cui Ang. They are so withered. Wang Jun was born in Hebei, so let him go back. I think he must be willing to return to his hometown after returning home."

"If the bachelor goes to serve as a pacifier, he would be more willing!" Cheng Gui laughed.

"Maybe it's to go back to Beijing to become the imperial censor!" Ma Xing said.

"It's impossible!" Cheng Gui shook his head and said, "Xia Zhiyan won't let you go back to Beijing."

"It's still the same sentence, do your best and obey the fate!" Ma Xing said: "After returning to Yan'an Mansion, let's do one last thing. Please come back and have a good talk with Xiao Ding!"

Cheng Gui was surprised: "Then Xiao will definitely come back?"

"I'm leaving, so he won't come to see me off?" Ma Xing said with a smile: "If it was before, he might not come back, but now Li Du has surrendered, and he has been appointed as the governor of Shaanxi Road. Xiao Ding will definitely come back."

"If he is willing to come back and talk to the bachelor, that is indeed a good thing. At least it proves that the powerful Director Xiao has not had any unreasonable thoughts until now. Think about it, his father is Guo Chao. Minister, his brother is also promising now, so what reason does he have to mess around?"

Ma Xing smiled faintly: "If a person really has the wrong idea, these will not become his fetters! Don't you remember the story of Han Gaozu's share of my share?"

"Speaking of which, when Xiao Ding was in Hebei, he only showed bravery on the battlefield, but after he arrived in the Northwest, he even managed to manage politics and appease the barbarians with a lot of wisdom. This person is really a great talent! Cheng Gui sighed: "Especially those methods to appease the barbarians, I think Guochao can learn from them."

"That's Xiao Chongwen's handwriting!" Ma Xing said: "The two brothers of the Xiao family, one literary and one military, are talents born in the world. If they can be detained to work for the country..."

"If they let their brothers have one inside and one outside, one piece of literature and one martial arts, won't the bachelor worry about it?" Cheng Gui said with a smile: "If this is the case, then there is really no one to control! I think this is why the officials put Xiao Chongwen Is it because of the far away trip to Qianzhou?"

(End of this chapter)