The rise of the prince

Chapter 255 Leaving Beijing + Yang Hongzhao's Policy
On the second day of March, many people gathered at the gate of the palace.

Four carriages were waiting for the entrance of the palace, and the flag of the palace was planted. The crowd crowded the entrance, and it was almost impossible to get through. At this point, the two little girls couldn't help crying softly.

"Okay, okay, it's not like I won't come back." Li Xingzhou smiled and wiped away the tears from the corners of the eyes of the two girls, hugged them, and then said: "I'm not here, you take care of yourself, if you have anything, just talk to Manager Yan or Sister Shiyu said, I have explained to them."

The two little girls nodded with pursed mouths, A-Jiao also came over, and handed him a sachet, tears almost falling down: "My lord, I asked for this at Mingyin Temple, it can keep you safe all the way. , you have to carry it with you at all times.”

He nodded and hugged the little girl in his arms: "If you are bored and lonely, you can come to the palace to find Yue'er and Qiu'er." The little girl nodded, and then Yan Yan and Yan Kun also came up to say goodbye one by one, and Xin moved to the south of the city. Li Yu's family, the emperor's uncle Li Yu, his wife and daughter.

This little cousin came to his house to pay New Year's greetings to him before, she was very cute, but after all, she was still young, she didn't know what happened, she just waved her little hand and said "goodbye, brother" in immature and inarticulate words.

It attracted a burst of laughter from the crowd, and the sorrow of parting also dissipated a lot.

The last is Degong. Degong took a look at him, then stroked his beard and said: "A good man has aspirations in all directions, and his family is good, but he can't be dragged down by it. You can weigh and grasp the degree of it. Once you arrive in Guazhou, then Without His Majesty's protection, and without everyone's help, I have to pay more attention to my words and deeds, after all, it is no better than Jingzhong.

Also, although Yang Hongzhao is cautious, he is very arrogant in his heart, so don't put on airs to provoke him. Now Guazhou is in his hands, otherwise he won't be able to help you even if he wants to. "

Li Xingzhou cupped his hands: "Hahaha, I know, thank you Degong for reminding me."

"Hmph, don't be too formal, it's good that you know, this time I went to His Majesty just to let you go there and pour God's grace, but the old man knows that you have your own abilities, and it would be great if you have the opportunity to make contributions. " De Gong whispered in his ear again.

He nodded, De Gong was telling him.Li Xingzhou is not stupid. In the current situation in Guazhou, although Yang Hongzhao is a handsome general, his function is almost like that of a Jiedu envoy. With the military and political power around Guazhou in his hands, he will not be stupid enough to put on airs to offend Yang Hongzhao.

After pulling the BMW, taking thirty guards, and Yan Shen, the team set off, and everyone followed the team, and he agreed to send them out of the city gate.

Since the former dynasty lost the land for raising horses in the north, the price of horses in the Jing Dynasty has remained high.

His brown-red war horse was given to him by his uncle Li Yu. It is a rare Dawan horse with a relatively pure bloodline. It has big hooves, a wide frame, fast speed, good endurance, and a docile personality. It was born for war.

There is a legendary story about Dawan horse and the Chinese nation. It can be said that if there is no Dawan horse, maybe the direction of Chinese history will be different.

The Dawan horse is also called a sweaty horse, but in fact, the sweaty blood is probably caused by parasites on the horse's mane, not that the horse's sweat is really bloody.At first in the Han Dynasty, Zhang Qian reported to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty after going out of the fortress after many difficulties and dangers, thinking that the Dawan horse could help the Han Dynasty army resist the Huns.

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was overjoyed, and sent an envoy to travel thousands of miles to buy a horse made of gold. As a result, the two sides could not reach an agreement, and the envoy was killed by the Dawan Kingdom.

Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was furious and ordered general Li Guangli to march west. Dawan is located near Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan today, thousands of miles away from the Han Dynasty.

But even so, Li Guangli still traveled thousands of miles to Dawan Kingdom. The Dawan people could not resist the Han army's offensive, so they killed the king and surrendered to the Han Empire. , left after establishing a puppet regime in Dawan, and brought BMW back to the Han Empire.

This is also the origin of the Han Empire's "even if it is far away, it must be punished".

And these thousands of Dawan horses were crossed with Mongolian horses and good horses from the Western Regions under the order of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, which greatly improved the horse breeds of the Han Dynasty and enabled the Han Dynasty to have a powerful cavalry force, paving the way for the Han Empire to destroy the Xiongnu in one fell swoop.

This kind of BMW is not common, especially now that Jingchao has lost the land for raising horses in the north.

It is not an exaggeration to say that a thousand pieces of gold are rare, this horse was given to him by Uncle Li Yuhuang, and it is named "Mei Xue", because it is brown all over, but the center of the eyebrows on its head is snow white.

Dawan horse is actually not as exaggerated as running thousands of miles a day and eight hundred nights, but it does run faster than many horses and has better endurance. Li Xingzhou can feel it. The most important point is that this horse is very docile and obedient.

The long send-off team went all the way out of the city gate, but still no one left. Li Xingzhou had no choice but to be ruthless and ordered everyone to turn back.

Everyone in the palace bid farewell, the little girls couldn't hold back anymore, they cried until the pear blossoms rained down, and even Shiyu, whose face had been cold for a long time, couldn't help crying.

There is no permanent banquet in the world, and a team of dozens of people headed towards the Forbidden Army camp. This section of the road is very spacious, enough for five or six carriages to go side by side.

Not long after they walked, the flags were flying in the distance, and the Tenth Army's army was already waiting for them more than half a mile outside the Forbidden Army's camp.

The Tenth Army only has more than 3000 people, but there are more than 5000 of them on the list. Each has one flag, and each battalion has five flags. There are more than 400 carts for food supplies, all of which are pulled by bullock carts.

The extra 2000 people are servants. The Ministry of War temporarily recruited and assigned them. Most of them were people with nothing to do in the market, homeless tramps, beggars, and rural farmers. They were responsible for transporting luggage. Put on the armor for the sergeant and feed the horse.

Among other things, the Tenth Army has more than 1000 heavy armors, including infantry armor, crossbowman armor, and cavalry armor. At most, it is about 1000 catties, plus the army's food and horse feed. These alone are very heavy burdens. Without more than 2000 servants, it is impossible to march normally.

Di Zhi came over on horseback and reported the number of people and the situation of the assembly. Li Xingzhou nodded after hearing this, and then ordered people to raise the commander's flag, kill live sheep, and sacrifice the flag with blood. Following the orders, the army officially set off.

Li Xingzhou rode in front on horseback. When the large army reached the south of the city, he asked Di Zhi to lead the team. They had horses, but many soldiers did not. He was inexperienced and didn't know how to control the marching speed, but he could learn slowly.

Di Zhide stepped forward happily and led the whole army forward.

Under the gate of the south city, Li Xingzhou saw He Zhao who had been waiting for a long time in the distance, and several Kaiyuan government officials.He Qian was wearing a red Hu suit, like a beautiful and lively butterfly, also followed He Zhao to explore his brain.

Li Xingzhou asked Di Zhi to continue to lead the army forward, and walked over with Nu Yuan and Yan Shen on horseback. He folded his hands and said with a smile: "Master He came to see me off in person. I'm really flattered."

He Zhao's old face was still not in a good mood, as usual, he snorted and said: "Hmph, don't think too much, cough, as a half-official in the palace, as the governor of Kaiyuan, it is natural to reward the army, and the court has repeatedly explained Of course, you can’t neglect it.”

He spoke seriously, but Li Xingzhou didn't fluctuate in his heart, and even wanted to laugh. Of course he knew that Lao He was lying.After all, they were not considered a large army, he was only there to supervise the army, how could the imperial court order him, the governor of the Kaiyuan Mansion, to come here to work on the army.

But still very heartwarming, He Zhao is like this.

"Hahaha, thank you Mr. He for your concern."

"You don't need to thank me. If you want to thank me, thank the court." He Zhao said solemnly.

Then he waved his hand, and the yamen servants rushed up a flock of sheep from the gate, tied the horns with ropes, five or six in a row, and led them together in one place, it looked like there were a hundred of them: "These are my Kaiyuan Mansion's rewards for the sergeants. "

Li Xingzhou was not pretentious, he beckoned the guard behind him to come over, and asked him to find the battalion commander of the servant army, and asked him to send someone to herd the sheep.

"You're welcome too." Seeing that he accepted without hesitation, He Zhao said dissatisfied.

At this time, He Qian also rushed out from the side, quickly stuffed something into his arms, and quickly backed away.

Li Xingzhou picked it up and saw that it turned out to be a piece of round and green jade with a hole in the top and a red string hanging on it: "What is this?"

He Qian looked around, "It's something to keep you safe, it's very common, just ordinary jade, you don't need to care about it." He kicked the stone under his foot as he spoke.

"Thank you." Li Xingzhou nodded, and put it in his arms. Over there, the servants had already arrived. A dozen rough and thin men, dressed in simple blue clothes, drove away the sheep under his order.

"I want to go with you too." He Qian suddenly raised her head and said.

"Nonsense!" Beside He Zhao's face darkened instantly, and the officials around him all stared in amazement, all stunned.

Li Xingzhou didn't think much, just thought it was funny, poked her on the forehead and said: "I'm not going to play, and that place is not a place to play, if you are bored, go to the palace to find Qiu'er and Yue'er."

He Qian glared at him, her face was stained pink, she turned around and ran away.

He Zhao looked at him with such ferocious eyes that he wanted to eat people, and everyone around did not dare to intervene. For some reason, the atmosphere suddenly became awkward. Li Xingzhou looked innocent, what happened to him?
At this time, a fast horse suddenly rushed towards the south gate, shouting loudly from a distance, "Imperial decree! Make way!"

At first I didn't hear clearly, but the voice became clearer and clearer. Kuai Ma was carrying a yellow flag, and the people on it were wearing yellow clothes. Then everyone quickly moved out of the way. Kuai Ma's sergeant rushed to the front of the marching army and shouted: "Emperor and grandson, is Prince Xiao's son here? Where is the son?"

Here, He Zhao and Li Xingzhou froze for a moment, and quickly waved: "The prince is here!"

Yan Shen yelled twice, the yellow-flag fast horse understood, turned the horse's head around, and asked, "Which one is the grandson of the Son of Heaven, the son of Prince Xiao?"

"I am." Li Xingzhou said.

The soldier in yellow breathed a sigh of relief, patted his chest and dismounted: "Fortunately, I caught up with you, my son, please accept the imperial edict."

After hearing this, everyone got off their horses and knelt down.

The sergeant in yellow carefully took out a box wrapped in yellow silk from his arms, removed the yellow silk, opened the box, and then took out the imperial decree written on white paper and ink brush, cleared his throat and began to read.

"The emperor's edict said: Mao soil is distributed, and it is used as a vassal screen in the imperial family; Tonggui favors tin, and Hong belts are sharpened in the royal family. The glory of Jiayu leaves, the name of En Chonghuan; the distribution of Yantianhuang, the ceremony and family, Grand Ceremony Remuneration, Xinlun Order
Zier Li Xingzhou is the son of Prince Xiao and my grandson.Chun Jin has always said that, diligent and diligent, filial piety is formed by nature, and clearness is based on life, and never slack in deeds; read the cardinal's meticulousness, and see the calmness of manners.He conferred the book of treasures and made you the king of the clan Pingnan County.
Dai Enlun lived in Yishi, Shang Kexin's family; a solid rock will last forever, especially in the future.

Appreciate this! "

The sergeant reading the decree was very loud and full of energy, but Li Xinzhou was a little confused. After all, he was considered illiterate compared to Chen Yu and the like. Just to mention it, Lao He and the officials behind him were stunned.

The sergeant in yellow who delivered the decree reminded in a low voice: "King Pingnan, please accept the imperial decree."

"King Pingnan?"

The sergeant nodded and handed him the imperial decree, then took a large yellow silk package from the horse's back and handed it to him: "Your Majesty, these are the treasures and clothes. Your Majesty said that King Pingnan is in charge of military affairs. There is no need to show gratitude, I just hope that I can live up to the holy hope."

After speaking, he got on his horse and walked away.

Before Li Xingzhou understood, He Zhao came over first and looked at him in disbelief: "Pingnan County King. You, the Emperor actually added you as County King!"

He was stunned for a moment when he heard it, then opened the imperial decree, searched line by line, and finally saw a line of words he knew, "Give me a book of treasures, and seal you as the clan king of Pingnan County"!
Yang Hongzhao hurried through the camp, and the soldiers coming and going around gave way one after another.

The army commander Yang Jianye followed behind him and said: "Father, I reported from the south last night that Suzhou did send people to come over by land, and Luzhou is still vacillating, but the people we sent to Luzhou have not returned since more than ten days ago. Afraid of changes."

"Where is the imperial court?" Yang Hongzhao asked while striding.

"The follow-up reinforcements from the imperial court will arrive tomorrow. There are [-] soldiers in the third and fourth chambers of the Shenwu Army. They are all under the command of my father. They also come with supplies and food." Yang Jianye said excitedly, since the defeat in Anxia. , this is the biggest good news.

Yang Jianye would not move forward, and the surrounding sergeants gave way one after another: "That's right, is the resettlement camp ready?"

The magistrate of Guazhou, dressed in official uniform, followed behind and hurriedly cupped his hands: "Reporting to the general, the local youths have been summoned to prepare, and it is just south of Guazhou City."

"Is there any news about the warlord sent by His Majesty?"

Speaking of the warlord, the expressions of the people behind him were slightly ugly.

Yang Jianye took out a letter from his pocket and handed it over: "Father, this is a letter from the imperial court. I wanted to show it to you in the morning, but I forgot in a hurry. The military governor sent by the imperial court is Li Xingzhou, the son of Prince Xiao, and now His Majesty has added it to you." Prince Pingnan is probably on his way to the south now."

After finishing speaking, everyone was speechless. Li Xingzhou's reputation as a great murderer in the capital was unknown to everyone, but the emperor didn't know what to think, but he was sent to supervise the army at this time.

Yang Hongzhao stopped talking.

The magistrate of Guazhou shook his head: "The prince was the one who did the wrong thing last time, this time"

Yang Jianye also looked displeased: "Heh, with Li Xingzhou's reputation in the capital, he is much more difficult to serve than the crown prince."

"Speak carefully, be careful that misfortune comes out of your mouth." Yang Hongzhao said seriously, and both of them shut up.

After a while, they arrived at their destination.

In the muddy field outside the fence of the camp, a group of soldiers surrounded one place, and there were four people kneeling on the muddy field in the middle, two soldiers in leather armor, and two peasants in ragged clothes. It looked like a lot, and there was a soldier's body next to it.

Hearing that someone called the general, everyone quickly moved out of the way.

"What's going on?" Yang Hongzhao asked expressionlessly.

One of them arched his head and leaned over in a low voice, "General, these two farmers killed one of our brothers, but...but the three of them are restless in their work, they..."

Yang Hongzhao listened and passed him directly, and looked down at the two trembling farmers: "Say it."

The old man was so frightened that he couldn't speak. The younger farmer hesitated for a moment and then cried: "My lord, it's them! The three beasts spoiled my sister first, and my father and I couldn't persuade them. We did it out of desperation. Yes, but if you are not careful, if you are not careful."

Yang Hongzhao turned his head to look at the corpse next to him. There was a long scar on the back of the neck of the corpse, which spread to the neck, and the flesh and blood turned over. His face was pale, and he bled too much.

The two soldiers who were tied up also lowered their heads, showing no intention of defending themselves. After all, they were captured by the government officials on the spot.

All eyes were on him, Yang Hongzhao said to the two farmers, "If you kill someone, you will pay with your life."

Immediately, the faces of the two were ashen, their eyes dimmed, and they hugged their heads and began to cry.
"However, according to military law, forcibly robbing civilian women without permission is also a capital offense," he continued.

The two soldiers were shocked instantly and kowtowed quickly: "General, please forgive me, please forgive me, general!"

Yang Hongzhao didn't speak, but turned to the two farmers and asked, "Which one of you did it?"

The two looked at each other, and seemed to understand something. The young son was about to speak when the old man stopped him: "General, it was me, the old man. I used the hatchet at home to cut at the back."

"Father!" The son just said something, but was pushed back by the old man's shoulders: "Listen to me! You are still young, and half of my body is buried in the ground. Don't be impulsive. Think about it, think about it!"

The son burst into tears and was finally speechless.

Seeing this, Yang Hongzhao said expressionlessly: "This old man killed our sergeant. His crime is unforgivable. These two scumbags violated military discipline and ruined our army's prestige. Take the three of them down. At noon tomorrow, they will be beheaded at the gate of the camp for public display."

As he spoke, he glanced at the young farmer with a sad and angry face: "Give him two pennies and let him go."

After Yang Hongzhao finished speaking, the surrounding soldiers were silent and did not dare to make a sound. They quickly agreed, and then gave orders to drag the two soldiers and the old man away, and the crowd gradually dispersed.

"Father, why should you protect that farm family?" After everyone dispersed, Yang Jianye said unhappily, but Guazhou Zhizhou didn't say a word.

Yang Hongzhao turned his head, looked at his son meaningfully, and then shook his head: "Go back to the camp, send more people to the south, and you will go to the south to guard tonight."

"Ah..." Yang Jianye was a little unhappy, but he could only take orders.

(End of this chapter)