Chang'an is good

Although Yue Chunyan is young, he is Yue Guang's eldest son. His promise to protect him until death is very important in certain circumstances.

The soldiers in the city will not ignore the safety of this young boy, otherwise they will be infamous in the Shuofang army.

Yue Chunyan believed that if he brought witnesses into the city, the other two deputy envoys would naturally know what was right and wrong after knowing what Shi Daxiong had done.

After hearing this promise, Wei Shuyi felt like he had a life-saving talisman attached to his forehead.

Looking at the one thousand cavalrymen again, he changed his mind: It should be two.

Before they parted ways, Chang Suining said to Yue Chunyan: "I want to borrow a token from Mr. Yue that can represent the Yue family, and someone who can explain to the Shuofang Army what happened outside the city today on your behalf."

After a moment's hesitation, Yue Chunyan took out a copper talisman from his bosom and handed it to Chang Suining on the horse's back with both hands: "This is my father's copper talisman."

Chang Suining said "thank you" before taking it.

Yue Chunyan looked at a middle-aged general beside him: "Uncle Ji..."

The general with blood on his face understood and clasped his fists to Chang Suining: "I am Ji Ren, a member of the Yue Jieshi Mansion. I am willing to follow the Chang Jieshi!"

Chang Suining: "Thank you for your help."

After Wei Shuyi, Yue Chunyan and others entered the city, the gates of Lingzhou City were closed again.

The guards all felt that Lingzhou was destined to be turbulent today.

Most of them just hope that this turmoil can be as small as possible.

Rather than the internal strife, the guards standing on the city walls were more worried about the foreign cavalry they were watching go away.

They still don't know how these cavalrymen who seemed to have descended from the sky came to Lingzhou.

They didn't know what the purpose of the rumored Chang Jieshi, who had already occupied the Eastern Capital Luoyang and swept across Hebei Province, was for appearing here. Her attitude didn't seem to be that aggressive.

Chang Suining was leading his troops towards the southwest.

The Shuofang military camp was located southwest of Lingzhou City, which was exactly the direction from which the Shuofang rebels who were carrying out the ambush and killing operations emerged.

Shi Daxiong——

Chang Suining sat on the horse, looking ahead, and repeated the name in his mind.

Shi Daxiong was the deputy envoy of the Shuofang Army who "had sufficient qualifications and prestige but had ulterior motives" as mentioned by Dai Cong.

The other candidate mentioned by Dai Cong, Xue Fu - Chang Suining had already inquired about this person from Yue Chunyan, and this person was currently in the army.

When Yue Chunyan heard Chang Suining asking about Xue Fu, he reacted for a moment before he realized who he was talking about: [Could it be that Envoy Chang Jie was talking about General Xue, who was under Deputy Envoy Cheng? ]

Seeing Chang Suining nodded, Yue Chunyan confirmed with the Shuofang Army and confirmed that Xue Fu had not entered the city and had been in the military camp in recent days.

Yue Chunyan's reaction indirectly proved Dai Cong's words: Xue Fu still lacked reputation in the Shuofang army.

There were three deputy envoys in the Shuofang Army. In addition to Shi Daxiong, there were two other deputy envoys, Jin and Cheng.

Among them, Deputy Envoy Jin was originally a scholar. He was appointed by the court many years ago to assist the Shuofang Jiedushi in handling military affairs.

Over the years, Deputy Envoy Jin has been cautious and has never made any mistakes. Yue Guang trusted him very much during his lifetime. Although he was not as popular as Shi Daxiong in the army and rarely went to the battlefield to fight, because of Yue Guang's trust, he was in charge of many important military affairs and the military pay was also allocated by him.

After Yue Guang met with an accident in the capital, the Shuofang army began to rebel against the imperial court. Shi Daxiong secretly tried to use Deputy Envoy Jin's background to stir up hostility in the army. Although this caused a certain impact, due to various checks and balances, he was unable to completely deprive Deputy Envoy Jin of his military duties.

Another deputy envoy named Cheng had more seniority than Shi Daxiong, but he was old, over 60 years old, and covered in battle wounds. After the news of Yue Guang's death was passed back to Lingzhou, he fell seriously ill. Faced with the chaos in the army, he was willing but unable to do anything.

Xue Fu was adopted by the deputy envoy named Cheng since he was young and was cultivated by him, so he could be considered as half an adopted son.

Xue Fu followed Deputy Envoy Cheng to the battlefield to kill the enemy when he was seventeen years old, and it has been eight years since then.

In Deputy Envoy Cheng's opinion, although Xue Fu's talent is not outstanding, he is neither arrogant nor impatient, never ostentatious in his behavior, and able to calm down and hone his skills. What's more valuable is that he has a sense of responsibility.

Eight years seems like a long time, but compared to those generals who have been rooted in Guannei for many years and are accustomed to seniority, the twenty-five-year-old Xue Fu is still too young.

Deputy Envoy Cheng originally intended to keep the man by his side and patiently hone him for a few more years. If he could achieve a few more outstanding military exploits, he could then safely take over his position as deputy envoy. However, unexpected events occurred, and Envoy Yue died in the capital, and the situation in Guannei suddenly changed...

Xue Fu was sending people to investigate unusual movements in the army.

He found out that 4,000 soldiers had left the camp without permission, but the general who was in charge of mobilizing those 4,000 soldiers denied it. It was not until Xue Fu had his men count the number of soldiers that the general said nonchalantly, "Oh, I remember now. We did mobilize 4,000 soldiers to go out on patrol."

"You sent 4,000 soldiers out on patrol?" Xue Fu asked sternly, "4,000 soldiers haven't returned for half a day, but General Peng treated them so carelessly. Did he forget that it is a serious crime to mobilize troops without authorization?"

The military officer named Peng sneered, "I am following the orders of the deputy commander of the division, so it is not your turn to ask questions."

It was no secret in the military that he was Shi Daxiong's subordinate.

"When Envoy Yue was alive, he set military rules. Any mobilization of more than a thousand soldiers must be ordered by the Envoy, or by the three deputy Envoys. The order of the deputy Envoy alone is not enough to mobilize 4,000 soldiers. This is a violation of military rules." Xue Fu's brows showed a bit of coldness: "Please tell General Peng the truth about the whereabouts of the 4,000 soldiers!"

General Peng sneered, narrowed his eyes, and looked at the young man in front of him: "Who do you think you are? How dare you question the deputy envoy of the division?"

After saying this, he ignored Xue Fu's questioning and turned around to leave in a swagger.

The next moment, Xue Fu's voice came from behind: "Peng Wu is arbitrarily mobilizing troops and defying military regulations. Capture him!"

"Yes!"

Peng Wu, who was suddenly held down by several soldiers, flew into a rage: "How dare you, you bastard, accuse me of a crime!"

Xue Fu remained calm and took out a token: "I am ordered by Deputy Envoy Cheng to temporarily manage military affairs--"

When Peng Wu was about to curse again, he heard a chaotic sound of greetings from behind him.

Then, a hoarse and majestic voice sounded: "General Xue is so arrogant that he actually showed off to the people of this deputy envoy!"

"Deputy Division Envoy." Xue Fu lowered his eyes and bowed to the visitor: "I am just asking about the whereabouts of the four thousand soldiers."

"I'm mobilizing troops to quell the rebellion. It's none of your turn to give orders, little bastard." Shi Daxiong was a burly man with sagging flesh on his face, a red nose, and messy curly beard on his temples. He didn't even look at Xue Fu, but turned around and gave an order: "Immediately mobilize 30,000 soldiers to follow me to quell the rebellion!" As he said that, he waved his hand to the soldiers who were escorting Peng Wu. The soldiers sensed the intimidation, hesitated for a moment, and finally let Peng Wu go.

Peng Wu turned his sore arm and glanced at Xue Fu with a sarcastic look.

Xue Fu was slightly startled by Shi Daxiong's words. He took a few steps forward, stood in front of Shi Daxiong who was about to leave, and raised his hands to clasp his fists.

Shi Daxiong looked at him steadily.

"May I ask the deputy division commander, where did the idea of ​​suppressing the rebellion come from? Where did the rebellion originate?"

Shi Daxiong said in a flat voice: "Tens of thousands of cavalry suddenly broke into our Lingzhou territory. This is a matter of utmost urgency—"

Xue Fu was shocked: "Where did tens of thousands of cavalry come from?"

As he spoke, he also looked back into Shi Daxiong's eyes: "As far as I know, the border of Lingzhou has always been patrolled by the deputy general's troops. How is it possible that tens of thousands of cavalrymen could quietly enter the border of Lingzhou?"

Shi Daxiong finally revealed a trace of dangerous impatience in his eyes: "Why, do you think that I am exaggerating? Or do you suspect that these tens of thousands of cavalrymen are deliberately led into the house by me?"

"I just think there are many strange things about this matter." Xue Fu still did not give way, and said seriously: "Since the deputy envoy of the division has returned from the city, he must have heard the news and returned to the camp. In this case, Deputy Envoy Cheng and Deputy Envoy Jin must have known about this matter. For such a major event of mobilizing troops, the two deputy envoys must have given orders - as long as the deputy envoy of the division gives the order for the three deputy envoys to mobilize troops, I will do my best to cooperate."

He had clear thoughts, and although he was shocked by the statement of "tens of thousands of cavalry entering the country", he still noticed Shi Daxiong's unusual intention in recruiting troops at this time.

Moreover, after Xue Fu calmed down and thought about it, he was more inclined to believe that the claim that tens of thousands of cavalry were attacking was not credible.

How could tens of thousands of cavalrymen enter the pass without leaking any news?

And where can tens of thousands of cavalry be mobilized?
Looking at Dasheng, it was rare to gather tens of thousands of cavalry. Even in the Xuan Ce Army, which had the strongest military force, there were only 30,000 cavalry, and most of them were light cavalry, with less than 10,000 heavy cavalry.

Although Longyou was rich in war horses, it had only more than 10,000 fixed cavalrymen. Most of the cavalrymen during war were temporarily recruited from nearby nomadic tribes.

As far as he knew, Chang Suining of Huainan Dao had taken advantage of raising war horses overseas, which led to a substantial increase in the number of cavalry in Jiangdu in recent years. But even so, it was said that she had "only" 20,000 cavalry when she sent troops to Luoyang this time, and most of them were light cavalry.

The cost of a warhorse is equivalent to that of three soldiers, and a cavalryman is usually equipped with two to three warhorses. The horse policy in the Great Sheng Dynasty is difficult to develop, and their Shuofang Army, as an important border defense base, now has only 8,000 cavalrymen.

The current situation is turbulent, and anyone with a thousand cavalrymen can dominate an area.

With this premise in mind, Xue Fu thought that Shi Daxiong's statement about tens of thousands of cavalrymen approaching the border was unrealistic.

It wasn't just Xue Fu who thought it was unrealistic, even Shi Daxiong himself thought so - he still thinks this is weird!

But he had investigated again and again, and this strange thing really happened!

On the way back to the military camp, Shi Daxiong cursed Chang Suining, the disruptor, no less than ten thousand times in his heart.

But no matter what, his plan today was disrupted by the other party and exposed. By now the news must have reached the military camp. If he wants to escape successfully, he must take advantage of the chaos and leave Lingzhou as soon as possible!

The word "leaving" was not in his original plan. He was determined to obtain the position of Jiedushi of Shuofang. However, something unexpected had happened and this was the only way for him to go.

As long as he can take away 30,000 Shuofang troops, he can start a new business anywhere and achieve great success!
Therefore, this young man who insisted on obstructing others deserves to die.

Shi Daxiong didn't want to waste time talking to Xue Fu, so he suddenly drew his sword and attacked: "You are seeking death if you obstruct the military plan!"

He attacked very quickly, but Xue Fu had anticipated it. He quickly took two steps back, holding the unsheathed long sword tightly in both hands, blocking it in front of him.

Shi Daxiong's eyes changed slightly. At this moment, the generals beside him saw the situation and drew their swords one after another, rushing towards Xue Fu.

The dozen or so soldiers who followed Xue Fu were terrified, but without any hesitation, they drew their swords and rushed to Xue Fu's side.

Although they were afraid of Master Daxiong, in such a life-and-death situation, they still chose to stand with Xue Fu.

There has never been such a conflict in the army.

Shi Daxiong was determined to lead his troops to leave, so he naturally no longer cared about anything else. He strode away on his own, leaving only one instruction: "Quickly capture Xue Fu's head and follow me out of the camp!"

The order to recruit soldiers quickly spread throughout the army, but it was far less smooth than Shi Daxiong had imagined.

There are more than 50,000 Shuofang troops stationed here, among whom are naturally some of Deputy Envoy Cheng’s confidants.

Although Xue Fu was tripped, before he stepped forward to stop Shi Daxiong, he had already signaled one of his subordinates to go and pass a message to his own people, asking them to carefully identify and respond.

Due to the delays everywhere, news of the incident had already reached the army.

There were two sources of news: one was that the team escorting the coffin of Envoy Yue Jie was suddenly attacked on the way and internal fighting broke out; the other was that a large number of cavalry were surrounding the military camp.

The army began to be in chaos.

Shi Daxiong was also a little panicked, but more of it was anger and confusion - Chang Suining suddenly led the cavalry into Lingzhou. According to common sense, it was nothing more than to occupy the Guannei Road. This woman was so ambitious that it was hateful! She was still encroaching on Hebei Road, and here came Guannei Road again. With such a big appetite, could she eat it all!
But if she wanted to occupy Lingzhou, shouldn't she take advantage of the surprise attack and take Lingzhou City in one fell swoop? He had clearly received news that she was leading troops to Lingzhou City... How come she was back in the military camp in the blink of an eye? !

She didn't take the city, but went straight to the heavily-armed place, rushing wherever there were swords, as if she was looking for a fight... What's the matter? She doesn't like things that are too easy to get, right?

Shi Daxiong found it absurd and angry—he hated people who did not play by the rules!

I wish I could cut him into pieces, but that damn guy suddenly appeared with 50,000 cavalrymen from nowhere!

A full fifty thousand!

The cavalrymen who suddenly appeared were visibly moving towards the military camp. The sentries who were responsible for reporting the news ran around one after another, all of them were terrified.

This sudden situation threw the army into chaos.

The injured Xue Fu tried his best to calm people's hearts, trying to take this opportunity to rebuild the army's morale and persuade the Shuofang Army to put aside their internal strife and unite against foreign enemies.

This method did work. The split in the Shuofang army was ultimately caused by Shi Daxiong's disloyalty. However, the Shuofang soldiers had been stationed together in Guannei Road for many years and had fought side by side countless times. The spirit of unity against foreign enemies had long been ingrained in their bones, and they had never been a group of scattered sand.

The soldiers tried hard to calm down, and most of them reached a consensus to face the outside world first.

However, the next "order" from Chang Suining's army took Xue Fu by surprise and caused an uproar in the Shuofang army. (End of this chapter)