Han Hai Tang Ergui

Chapter 881 Where there are people, there are rivers and lakes

Wang Liu didn't die, but both his legs were broken by the Persian cavalry horses, and his ribs were cracked. Every time he moved, he grinned in pain.

The ten veteran tooth soldiers who followed Wang Liu miraculously only killed three of them.

Firstly, the protective power of the whole body armor is still strong, and secondly, the Persian cavalry was frightened by Song Heishan and others who rushed over. They thought that the Zhou army was coming to wipe them out, so they had some scruples and did not dare to kill them.

When Chen Sanlang limped to Wang Liu's side, Song Heishan and the others had already chased the Persian cavalry farther away, leaving only one and a half older children to watch over Wang Liu and the others.

Wang Liu looked at Chen Sanlang, although he dared not move his head in pain, he still smiled at the sky.

"Now, it's unreasonable not to give a town emissary."

Chen Sanlang didn't know what to say, so he simply made a plop and lay down with Wang Liu and the others.

Everyone looked at the gloomy sky at noon together, and they didn't know who was taking the lead, so they laughed inexplicably.

In fact, Wang Liu and the others completely underestimated the significance of stopping Salar, the two hundred fine riders.

Because at this moment outside Zhenhubao, tens of thousands of Hu people who seemed to have surrendered had already rebelled.

Over the years, the lives of these indigenous Hu people have been really hard.

Originally, although they also paid taxes and served for the Iqta or Burke masters, those Iqta masters are all locals, and they are often families that have been passed down for hundreds of years, so they are not very short of money, and they still need to pay taxes. Be scruples and respectable, the squeeze is not particularly ruthless.

But these Han people from the east are basically poor and white, vulgar killers, all of them have loans on their backs, how could they be as "gentle" as the old Lord Burke, who all killed the native barbarians Squeeze!
Bullying men and women, buying and selling by force, and so on are fundamentally fundamental.

Coupled with language barriers, different customs, different beliefs, etc., it will cause large-scale resistance, but it will only be a matter of time.

Therefore, it would be troublesome if these elite Persian cavalry with organizational leadership and military command capabilities were allowed to enter outside Zhenhubao.

There are only more than 200 defenders and three to four thousand Han Chinese in the entire town of Hubao, but there are more than 5 Hu people who rebelled outside.

Without the entry of regular Persian elites, they have already surrounded Zhenhubao and blocked the nearby traffic arteries.

If there is a professional command, it may be able to pull out [-] to [-] steps.

During this critical period of confrontation, the appearance of tens of thousands of cavalry blocking key traffic in the rear will really directly affect the frontline battle situation.

. . . .

Ningyuan Governor's District, Xining City.

The location of Xining City is Kesai City, the capital of the former Khanna Kingdom, a little bit northwest of Namangan City in later Uzbekistan.

Whether it is in Zhang Zhou, or the Khotan Jin Kingdom that has not yet been transferred, the status of the Governor-General of Ningyuan is a bit special.

Originally, the land of Ningyuan was built by Zhang Tie after Li Shengtian laid down thousands of miles of land. Li Shengtian planned to grant Ningyuan to Zhang Tie only after Ningyuan asked for 100 million mu of land, and let him be one of Khotan's double-headed eagles.

But then things developed too fast, Zhang Tie quickly returned to the east and gradually became stronger, so that he unified the Central Plains, so Ningyuan's political planning has been delayed.

Up to now, the land occupied by the entire Ningyuan is about [-] square kilometers, which is about the same as Taiwan Island.

Among them, the rich basin is about [-] square kilometers, which is about the same size as Beijing and Shanghai combined.

It doesn't look like much, but this place is really rich!
The climate has four distinct seasons, there are large rivers running through the basin to facilitate transportation, and there are mountains and snowmelt rivers criss-crossing to ensure irrigation.

Although it can't compare with Zhang Zhou's Jianghuai and Huguang, but in the river, it is also unique.

As for the political model, the current Ningyuan is very much like a Jiedushi. It is said to be a strange so-called governor's district, but it should be called Ningzhou Ningyuan Army Jiedushi more appropriately.

Among them, the governor is equivalent to the Jiedu envoy, and the deputy governor is the Jiedu deputy envoy. Those who are in charge of the soldiers know that the military envoy and the secretary in charge of political affairs and other official positions are simply copied from the previous Jiedu envoy's office.

Then the 67 manor owners at the lowest level correspond to the official positions such as governors and suppressors under Jiedushi.

In the beginning, Li Shengtian's eldest son, Li Congde, served as governor of Ningyuan for a period of time, that is, Jiedushi.

After Zhang Yu's rise, Li Shengtian wisely handed over the governor's position to Zhang Zhong, Zhang Yu's old servant.

In Ningyuan now, Zhang Zhong served as Jiedu envoy, Ma Jirong, a Khotan Han who belonged to Li Shengtian's confidant, and Tian Xianzhong, a Khotan native who belonged to Li Congde's confidant, were the deputy envoys.

Among them, Ma Jirong also served as Guan Jun, controlling [-] step cavalry, and Tian Xianzhong also served as the secretary in charge of politics.

Under him, Ning Yuan, who controls [-] cavalry, knows that Xue Shouli, the soldier and horse envoy, comes from the family of five surnames and three kings, and he can be regarded as half of the East Returning Sect.

As for the royal private army controlled by Lao Zhangzhong, it can be regarded as the inner house army or the yamen army, and Dangjin is the commander of the army and horses in the yamen.

How to say old Zhang Zhong, he is actually quite capable, as can be seen from the fact that before Zhang Tie crossed, he was an old servant who was able to travel around to match a large number of forces.

Don't worry about whether he can do it or not, at least if he dares to do it, then it will be considered a big deal.

In fact, based on the situation at the time, Lao Zhang Zhong was doomed to fail, because Zhang had lost all legal principles and popular support at that time.

Old Zhang Zhong did not have the experience of more than 1000 years like Zhang Bing, and secondly, he did not have the skill of ten thousand enemies like Zhang Bing. If he can succeed, then it is not old Zhang Zhong, but Zhuge Liang.

Therefore, Zhang Tie didn't like the ability of old Zhang Zhong at the beginning of the journey, but after gradually understanding it, he left him in Ningyuan to guard the last retreat for himself.

Facts have proved that Zhang Tie's choice is very correct.

In the 20 years since Zhang Tie returned to the Central Plains, old Zhang Zhong steadily guarded Ningyuan, the last retreat for Zhang Tie, who could not return to the east.

You must know that Ningyuan is thousands of miles away from the middle land, but it is very rich, and there has never been a shortage of people from all walks of life who covet this place. Among them, the most active one is Prince Li Congde of Khotan.

Not long after Zhang Ting returned to the east, Li Congde, the prince of Khotan, insisted on going to Ningyuan to be the governor.

Li Shengtian was concerned about the stability of the country and Li Congde's face, so he couldn't stop it too much. After all, Li Congde had this power from a legal point of view.

At the critical moment, it was Zhang Zhong who took the initiative to back down and personally invited Li Congde to Ningyuan to resolve this problem.

Then he turned around and invited Li Shengtian's elder sister, Zhang Shengren's aunt, Empress Dowager Ciyou, who was returning to Khotan to visit her relatives, to Ningyuan to recuperate.

The presence of this giant Buddha gave Li Congde a hundred courage, and he did not dare to embezzle Zhang Ting's property in front of her. So after serving as governor for more than a year, Li Congde hurried back to Khotan in despair.

But Li Congde, who returned to Khotan, was not reconciled to failure, and at the instigation of his subordinate civil servants, he recommended Zhang Zhong as the governor of Ningyuan, but the vice-governors Ma Jirong and Tian Xianzhong both followed the Khotan faction.

Then, the Khotan army, which was not the Jin Guofan army at that time, was stationed in Ningyuan with 2 infantry, and then expanded to [-] locally.

Facing the impending being ostracized, old Zhang Zhong took his time and immediately began to discuss with the seven regretful Shandu Yuancong who stayed in Ningyuan.

In the end, it was decided to start the formation of the Neiya Army named Ningyuan Army in the Wangzhuang belonging to Zhang Tie under their control, led by Zhang Tie's cousin Song Zhongyi.

At the same time, seven Yuan Cong, Cao Ni, who was born in the Cao family, sneaked to Shule under makeup to report interests to Cao Yuanxin.

Cao Yixiao finally persuaded Cao Yuanxin to persuade Cao Yuanxin half a year later to let Xue Shouli, who was born in the family of five surnames and three kings, and belonged to the Donggui faction but had no Donggui, to Ningyuan to serve as the military envoy of Duzhi, and took Ningyuan's [-] Jin Guofan army under control. ten thousand.

In this way, among the [-] troops in Ningyuan, those who were close to Zhang Ting immediately increased from [-] to [-].

At the same time, although Ma Jirong was sent by Li Congde, Ma Jirong was actually Li Shengtian's confidant. Li Congde did not have absolute control over him, and the Ma family was a Han family, so they were naturally closer to Zhang Tie.

So far, all of Li Congde's tricks have been resolved.

This is ability. Old Zhang Zhong didn't use any drastic means, and he didn't even let the scope of the battle come out of Tian Kingdom, so he easily resolved Li Congde's attack without hurting his peace.

And repelling Li Congde's intervention, the others also died down.

Because everyone realized that old Zhang Zhong was not just an old man who lived in Ningyuan relying on his past achievements, but a capable and loyal minister who could really protect Ningyuan for Zhang Wei.

Since then, with the increasing strength of Zhang Ting, especially after defeating the Gaochang Uighurs and joining forces with Li Shengtian in Kucha, recovering Anxi and Beiting in one fell swoop, and completely defeating Saktu Khan, the situation in Ningyuan has been completely stabilized down.

Even Li Congde, who had coveted Ningyuan before, began to admire and respect Zhang Zhong.

Not only did he send his trusted ministers to Ningyuan to celebrate his birthday every year on Zhang Zhong's birthday, but he also took the initiative to match up and let his younger brother Yanqi Hou Li Congyu marry Zhang Zhong's eldest daughter, so as to draw in the relationship.

After Zhang Ting heard about Zhang Zhong's achievements, he also greatly appreciated it.

Originally, Zhang Zhong asked his sons to use Lie as their generation, because he was originally a servant of the Zhang family, not the real Zhang family, so he didn't dare to call himself Zhang Tie's elder.

After Zhang Tie knew about it, he deliberately wrote Zhang Zhong into the Zhang family tree, acknowledging that Zhang Zhong was his uncle, and he was called Zhongweng in his family books.

Zhang Zhong's sons were originally called Zhang Lieshun, Zhang Liesong, etc., and they were all renamed Zhang Zhaoshun, Zhang Zhaosong, etc.

Zhang Tie treated them as his younger brothers, and at Zhang Zhong's initiative, the brothers Zhang Zhaoshun and the children of other important officials in Ningyuan would rush to Luoyang, the capital of God, with guards by Zhang Tie's side when they reached adulthood.

. . . .

In Xining City, in the backyard of the governor's office, old Zhang Zhong hadn't gotten up when the shouts of calico came from outside.

"Lang Jun get up quickly, Anxi and Beiting deposed ambassador Hu Gong, and sent someone from Suiye."

As soon as Zhang Zhong heard that Hu Guang had sent someone, he quickly got up and asked the maids to change his clothes. Huabu thought the maids were too slow, so he also dressed Zhang Zhong himself.

Looking at Zhang Zhong, who is 71 years old, but still has black hair and flexible legs, Hua Bu suddenly felt a little happy.

When I was 14 years old, I saw that Zhang Zhong was getting old, so I was determined to marry this husband who was more than [-] years older than him.

Thinking that in a few years, when Zhang Zhong died, he would be able to remarry someone he likes with his inheritance.

But who knew that Zhang Zhong was in surprisingly good health. In the past 20 years, he had five children.

By the way, flower cloth is not called flower cloth anymore, but Huajin, with Hua as its surname, named after the noble one among the cloths, Jin, which was bestowed by Zhang Ting.

. . . .

Where there are people, there are rivers and lakes, not to mention Zhang Zhong and Hu Guang.

Great men have said that there are all sorts of strange things about having no faction in the party, and it was more common at the end of the tenth century.

Specifically, in the eyes of Zhang Zhong and Hu Guang, there is something wrong with Bai Congxin.

In Zhang Ting's Yuan Cong faction, there are actually several forces.

One is the low-ranking officers of the Guiyi Army headed by Yan Jin and Ma Yaozi.

One is Song Zhongyi and Qu Wulang, who have already died in battle, are the children of the big Guiyi Army family headed by them.

The third group is left over by the heirs of Zhang Chengfeng's loyal ministers such as Yin Yaozi and Fanquan Fanshun brothers.

The last group is Bai Congxin, Ma Shacai, and bandits like Dunzhu and Qiongre Duojin.

But at the very beginning, Bai Congxin's status was very high, because it can be seen from the personnel.

Among the 49 yuan that went with Zhang Tie at that time, the bandit faction not only included top masters such as Bai Congxin, Ma Shacai, Qiongre Duojin, and Dunzhu, but their number even accounted for [-] of the [-] people. There are as many as [-] people.

So at the very beginning, apart from him, Bai Congxin had the highest status in Zhang Tie's basic game, and Yan Jin had to step back a little bit.

In this case, although Zhang Ting had known for a long time that Bai Congxin's ambition was to rebuild the Bai clan's country and restore the status of the Bai clan's royal family.Bai Congxin never concealed his ambition from others.

But in the eyes of Zhang Zhong, Hu Guang and others, there is something wrong with Bai Congxin.

Can a king of Hu people in frontier Sai who has jurisdiction over more than a dozen or 20 people be comparable to the founding father of the Great Zhou Dynasty and the status of the second person under the emperor?

That feeling is as outrageous as if someone in the later generations insisted on going to Zimbabwe to become the president if one of the elders of the republic did not do it.

Therefore, in the eyes of loyal ministers like Zhang Zhong and Hu Guang who resolutely protect the interests of Zhang Shengren, Bai Congxin is a man with two hearts who has long planned, has different ambitions, and is not so loyal.

For this kind of person, Zhang Zhong and Hu Guang must be on guard.

After all, the land in the middle of the river will be sealed off in the future for the princes of Zhang Ting to come to Xia Jun and the people.

Now that the sages have not yet grown up, Bai Congxin has taken the lead.

If they gave their unreserved full support and allowed Bai Congxin to take down the entire river by himself, would the sage still be able to seal the princes over smoothly?

Even if it is successfully sealed, Bai Congxin's prestige is already as high as the sky. Today, the emperor is far away. Will the princes be the opponent of a famous general like Bai Congxin?

There are so many vassals in Hezhong who followed Bai Congxin and made great contributions. Do they listen more to Bai Congxin, or to the princes?
Even the transfer of feudal vassals from the Kingdom of Khotan will be impacted.

Therefore, in recent years, whether it is the Anxi Army of Huguang, the Ningyuan Army controlled by Zhang Zhong, or the Jin Guofan Army.

Every time it is critical time, he will appear as a savior to help Bai Congxin make a final decision or turn the tide.

It's the same this time, after three or four months of confrontation, Bai Congxin obviously couldn't hold on anymore.

The Anxi army did not return to Shiguocheng immediately, and the Ningyuan army and the Jin Guofan army have not yet fully mobilized.

Even for Zhang Zhong and Hu Guang, they are not afraid even if Bai Congxin is defeated.

Without Bai Congxin and Lu Sanlang, the small 20 people will only delay the pace of controlling Hezhong for five or eight years.

Besides, even if the battle is defeated, there will be a loss of 5 to 20 people, not [-] people.

This kind of behavior, how should I put it, is simply damnable in the eyes of future generations!
But at this time, it is difficult to say whether he is good or bad. Even Zhang Ting himself can't evaluate it after knowing it, so he can only pretend not to know.

Because Zhang Zhong and Hu Guang are, in the final analysis, protecting Zhang Ting's interests.

And from the aspect of safeguarding the interests of Zhang Ting or the court, they have done a good job, because no one can confirm whether Bai Congxin has other ideas in his heart.

This is the reason why many high-ranking people in history have clearly seen that their cronies have committed unforgivable mistakes, but they have no way to severely punish them.

After you have been punished, there will no longer be loyal ministers who will offend others and sacrifice their lives for your benefit.

Anything like this, once it involves so much power and interests, everything will become extremely complicated.

. . . .

The people sent by Huguang were none other than Li Jixuan and his confidant secretary Lu Duoxun under his command. Among them, Li Jixuan came to inform Zhang Zhong of Huguang's judgment.

His arrival basically means that Ning Yuan's army and Jin Guofan's army will start to dispatch, ready to leave the gate of heaven at any time.

And Lu Duoxun came to Zhang Zhong as an intern on government affairs. Zhang Zhong, with the assistance of the civil servants sent by Zhang Tie, has been carrying out some reforms on Huangzhuang in Ningyuan these years.

In Ningyuan now, the royal family has a total of 39 manors owned by Zhang Tie, each of which is very large in size.

The small ones are 30 to 430 mu, the large ones are 150 million mu, with a total of [-] million mu of land and more than [-] million shi of grain.

These accumulations are the solid guarantee Zhang Tie provided for his sons Xia Junyimin in Hezhong.

Last year, Song Qi, a scholar of Qionglin and the right servant of the household department, who once served as the prefect of Jinan and Guide, headed the civil service group, which was specially here to manage Huangzhuang for Zhang Tie.

Under Song Qi's suggestion, Huangzhuang will gradually form two types of people, pure tenants and guards, to prepare for the upcoming westward journey of the philosophers.

After listening to Li Jixie's analysis, Zhang Zhong glanced at Dang Jin beside him, and only after seeing Dang Jin who was familiar with military affairs nodded calmly did he stand up.

"Xiao Erlang, let's go to rest for a night, and the old man will go to prepare immediately."

. . . .

Yaoshashuibei, Heyang Town, where Bai Congxin's base camp is located, [-] Han troops in an irregular oval shape, scattered in the east, west, and south of Heyang Town, very concentrated .

This is the fourth month of the confrontation, and the fighting between the two sides is not as intense as it was at the beginning.

Just like the night before dawn, both sides have found out the details of each other, and if there is an outbreak, it will not be a small fight, but a decisive battle.

Lu Zhen and Lu Sanlang ran into Bai Congxin's handsome tent, circling around in a hurry, holding a letter in his hand, and said in a somewhat exasperated voice:

"Look, Mr. Bai, not to mention the tens of thousands of barbarians in Zhenhubao, the Persians have even found a big loophole for us.

If it wasn't for Wang Liu from Yingchun Fort who accidentally knocked down and intercepted two hundred Persian elites in Yingchun Fort, I would have died here. "

Bai Congxin took the letter and looked at it, but there was a smile on his face, "Haha, Lu Sanlang, have you seen it? This is called luck, and this is destiny.

The river is destined to belong to our Han people, so Abu Yusuf's tricks are exhausted, but he is no match for the destiny of the Han people to prosper and perish! "

Lu Sanlang didn't expect Bai Congxin to say that, and his anxiety eased a little, but he was still a little anxious.

He knew what Bai Congxin was thinking, didn't Hu Guang and Zhang Zhong have been playing extreme games.

Bai Congxin simply withdrew his troops and let the Persians enter the line of Shiguocheng-Baishuicheng-Hushuicheng-Talos, pretending that they were full of fireworks and unable to hold on, so as to urge them to send troops quickly.

"Huguang's guy is far away in Suiye, Zhang Zhong has reached the age of seventy, and his mind is even more unpredictable. If they really dare not come to rescue, we will suffer a big loss, and years of hard work will be ruined! "

Lu Sanlang couldn't help but muttered, and Bai Congxin got up and patted him on the shoulder.

"I guess Huguang is definitely not in Suiye at the moment. He must be in Talas, and has even arrived in Baishui City. Zhang Zhong is an old man, so he must have mobilized long ago, so Huguang can only send him a letter.

Don't worry, they will arrive in time. "

Lu Sanlang sniffed, "So Bai Gong believes in these two thieves?"

Bai Congxin showed a determined look on his face, "I don't believe in them, but in saints. If others don't know that I am Bai Congxin, saints must understand.

The sage has given full power to Hu Guang and Zhang Zhong for so many years, so he must have entrusted them with something.

If we are gone, I believe that even with the status of Hu Guang and Zhang Zhong, they will not escape the death penalty, so they will definitely come. "

"Okay!" Lu Sanlang gritted his teeth, "Since Mr. Bai said so, the certain family can rest assured.

I'll go down and set things up, and I'll eat Abu Yusuf as soon as the Anxi Army and Jin Guofan Army arrive! "

(End of this chapter)