No, gentlemen also guard against

Chapter 349 Northern Return Variables
Khufu met head-on with the large army of garrison troops returning from the north in Tanzhou Prefecture.

On the day he arrived, according to news from the front, the garrison troops returning from the north were crossing the river.

Khufu went there without stopping.

According to the introduction by the reception official of Tanzhou Prefecture, the northward flowing river in front of me is called Xiangjiang River.

Khufu raised his eyes and looked around. In the middle of the Xiangjiang River, there was a land and water island made of accumulated sand, like a long belt, floating on the Xiangjiang River.

Upon seeing this, Shi, the governor of Tanzhou, introduced: "Sir Hu, this state is called Orange Island by the local people."

"Ah."

Khufu couldn't help but look into the distance and took a second look.

In front of me, the clear sky is clear, and the Xiangjiang River goes north to the head of Orange Island.

Khufu suddenly felt a heroic feeling in his heart.

"My lord, the garrison soldiers are in front and have just crossed the river."

"Walk."

Khufu was suddenly alone and galloped forward.

"Your Excellency, please wait for us! Be careful of your safety."

The officials and generals of Tanzhou Mansion hurriedly followed the bearded eunuch. He was the emperor's personal envoy, representing the empress. If anything happened, they would be in trouble.

Khufu ignored him and trusted the horse to let go of the reins.

Soon, the crowded crowd of soldiers appeared in front of him.

"Lieutenant, please wait. I will send someone to negotiate..."

"No, please stop."

Khufu gave the order and went alone without looking back.

Facing the sudden appearance of the crowd in front of them, the garrison soldiers who had just crossed the river and returned to the north quickly gathered into formation under the leadership of several leading men.

They held weapons and looked at these teams that seemed to be Tanzhou Prefecture official soldiers and horses with wary expressions.

"Who are you? Please stop." The leading man stepped forward and shouted.

"The miscellaneous Khufu, the emperor's envoy, represents the saint, and is here to issue an edict."

The Beigui garrison soldiers were stunned, as if they didn't expect a eunuch's voice to be so powerful and heroic.

However, what they didn't expect was that the bearded eunuch came forward and continued to advance without reining in his horse. He left the officers and soldiers of Tanzhou Prefecture far behind and walked into the guarded garrison alone. Among the soldiers.

The leading men remained silent, and the garrison crowd subconsciously made way for Khufu to enter.

Khufu stood alone, holding a yellow silk book in one hand, and passed by the garrison soldiers.

Along the way, he turned his head left and right, and his eyes fell on the tired faces of the garrison soldiers returning to the north, the dusty soldiers' armor, and the pots and pans of cooking, and he scanned them carefully one by one.

The whole place was silent.

The leading men, the garrison troops returning from the north, and even the officials of Tanzhou Prefecture in the rear all quietly witnessed this scene.

Khufu looked calm, but he was actually a little nervous in his heart, but he suppressed it forcefully.

He reined up his horse in the center of the crowd, took off his shawl, unfolded the imperial edict with both hands, and read it loudly with a calm tone:

"Emperor's edict..."

Words of forgiveness spat out from Khufu's mouth, resounding throughout the silent audience.

Read it.

All quiet.

Khufu looked at the leading men.

Among them, a tall and thin man, fully armored and wearing a red cloak, stood at the front of several leading men. He seemed to be the leader of the mutiny, Du Yu Caiqin.

As for Jiang Governor Shi Ouyang Lianghan and Su Qian, the captain of the third regiment whom he had mentioned privately, he should be one of these leading men, but Hu Fu couldn't recognize him and didn't care much about it at the moment.

While Khufu was observing the expressions of the generals, the generals were also observing the expressions of the emperor's personal envoy.

Khufu handed out the imperial edict with both hands and gestured to the court. He said in a high voice:

"General Cai, please accept the order."

Cai Qin was silent.

Khufu kept his expression unchanged and did not rush.

Time passed by minute by minute.

Khufu, who was stared at by a group of fighting warriors guarding the border, stared at Cai Qin intently, but his eyes faintly lost some focus, as if his perception of time had become dull.

He didn't know how long it had passed, whether it was a moment or forever.

until...

Cai Qin suddenly dismounted, stepped forward to receive the order, knelt on one knee, bowed his head and thanked him.

There was a burst of noise in the whole place.

It was cheers.It is like the waves of the Xiang River next to it, sweeping over the crowds on the riverside.

The bearded eunuch on horseback let out a long sigh of relief. When he realized what he was doing, his back shirt was already soaked through.

At this moment of public attention, he couldn't help but turn his head and glance at the sandbar like a ribbon in the middle of the Xiangjiang River.

Cai Qin and other generals around him came up to greet him.

The garrison crowd came in joyfully.

Officials from Tanzhou Prefecture also cautiously stepped forward to celebrate.

The crowd was in various shapes and the scene was chaotic.

Later, Khufu was also distracted and forgot how to comfort and deal with Cai Qin and other soldiers.

I just feel that the pardon process on the bank of the Xiang River in front of me is full of vitality and everything is competing.

That night, he and his soldiers were in a temporary military camp outside Tanzhou City. They returned drunk and did not go back to the refined official residence arranged in the city. Instead, they lived with these garrison soldiers.

When he woke up the next day, walked out of the tent, and went to the main tent to discuss with Cai Qin and others, Khufu clearly felt the close respect for him from the soldiers in the military camp...

In the next few days, during his stay in Tanzhou Prefecture, Khufu was always with the soldiers recruiting soldiers.

Cai Qin and other generals became more and more trusting in his attitude.

Even when Khufu expressed a slight concern about the weapons and armor, Cai Qin took off his armor without saying a word, and at the same time ordered all the garrison soldiers to remove their weapons together.

So these weapons and armors were left in Tanzhou Mansion.

On this day, after resting, everyone set off and left Tanzhou Mansion.

Before leaving, Tanzhou Prefecture sent military rations and feed to supply the garrison soldiers.

Khufu decided to follow Cai Qin and others back north.

It can also be regarded as setting an example, representing the court and showing attitude.

Before leaving Tanzhou Prefecture, Hu Fu, as an envoy, sent several letters to the prefectures along the way, explaining the situation, ordering officials along the way not to obstruct him, and letting the garrison soldiers cross the border and return north...

In particular, Hongzhou and Jiangzhou, which were the terminal points of returning to the north, ordered the chief officials of the two states to be ready to receive him.

After the official document was sent and the arrangements were made, Khufu followed the large army and left Tanzhou Prefecture and continued northward.

Now that the recruitment is successful, all the preparations in advance are carried out step by step.

All he felt was smooth sailing.

Maybe it was admiration for his heroic action in announcing the decree that day.

On the way back to the north, Khufu gradually became familiar with Cai Qin and others.

Moreover, in order to blend into the military atmosphere of the military camp, the bearded eunuch Lieutenant Commander, who never drank much, also learned to drink at the table.

During this period, Khufu finally met Su Qian, the captain of the third regiment.

This is a man with a round face like a bottle of oil, a strong build, and wheat-colored skin. He drinks wine at the wine table and speaks very little.

Although most of the [-] garrison soldiers were soldiers from Zhechong Prefecture in Hongzhou, and the Jiangzhou garrison soldiers headed by Su Qian accounted for a small number,

However, maybe because of his dull and honest personality, Su Qian got along well with Cai Qin and other Hongzhou generals, at least they were not excluded or neglected.

Khufu observed this, but because the recruitment and comfort went smoothly and he encountered no difficulties, Khufu did not take the initiative to find Su Qian.

And Su Qian was silent to Khufu, who occasionally wore a certain waist knife, or he was silent to Cai Qin and others, and he didn't take the initiative to chat with Khufu.Khufu didn't care much about this.

As the days passed, things moved in a stable and good direction until everyone entered the hinterland of Jiangnan Road.

Khufu, Cai Qin and other garrison soldiers arrived at Raozhou, which was not far from Hongzhou.

After passing a city checkpoint, I suddenly noticed something different.

"Envoy Hu, what is the purpose of the guards at these checkpoints?"

At the front of the team, Cai Qin turned his head and asked the generals and soldiers in doubt what they were thinking.

Khufu glanced at the heavily guarded checkpoint behind him.

He comforted her with a wide voice: "It should... there should be a lot of bandits in the area, and the government should have stationed troops to guard against it."

One of the school captains said gloomily: "This hinterland of Jiangnan used to be peaceful and peaceful. Where can there be such rampant bandits? It must be strictly guarded."

The marching team fell silent.

Khufu frowned slightly.

In the next few days, after passing some checkpoints, we still encountered some phenomena of strict soldiers guarding key points.It seems obvious who to guard against.

Although the garrison team was allowed to pass, Cai Qin and others looked sideways at Khufu more and more frequently.

Khufu's expression remained unchanged, but in his heart he couldn't help but curse the chief official of Raozhou and other places.

When the team approached Raozhou City, Khufu immediately entered the city, entered the Raozhou Hall, called out the chief officer of Raozhou, and questioned the matter.

The governor of Raozhou was away on leave recently to recover from illness. Only a governor of Raozhou named Zhao came forward on his behalf.

Explain that Raozhou is in the hinterland of Jiangnan Road and its location is critical. For safety reasons, officers and soldiers were sent to guard the checkpoints to prevent trouble. This is the obligation and responsibility of local officials and is not allowed.

However, Zhao Changshi emphasized that it was just a routine alert and would never block the envoy and the garrison's return north.

Khufu couldn't understand this kind of old-fashioned mentality and irresponsible negligence, so he was naturally very dissatisfied and scolded him. Zhao Changshi knelt down and apologized, but he still laughed.

However, in the end, due to the pressure from the emperor's personal envoy, Raozhou bowed its head and withdrew some of the officers and soldiers at the checkpoint, sending only a few officers and soldiers to guard the pass as a formality...

Finally, the officials of Raozhou sent the sullen Khufu and the silent garrison soldiers out of the country respectfully.

After leaving Raozhou, where he "didn't know the general situation", Khufu breathed a sigh of relief.

At the wine table at night, he comforted Cai Qin and other generals. Everyone nodded in agreement, and Cai Qin took the initiative to liven up the atmosphere.

But soon, Khufu and a group of generals discovered that Raozhou was not an exception.

It may be that Raozhou was a substitute model, or it may be that he knew that the hinterland of Jiangnan Road was too important, and the officials everywhere were afraid that something would happen to the garrison soldiers when they crossed the border.

As we passed through several states, we saw that at each checkpoint, there were soldiers in full gear, patrolling and guarding, staring coldly at the unarmed Cai Qin and other garrison soldiers as they passed under their noses.

As a lieutenant, Khufu had great power, but he could not scold him when faced with such behavior in various places.
Not to mention the Tsoer official who is slick and swaying the blame.

Khufu had no choice but to try his best to deal with it, and at the same time made promises to comfort Cai Qin and other generals and soldiers.

When they first encountered such a situation of strict military guarding, Cai Qin and others would look at Khufu in confusion or complain a few words. However, later on, after more experience, Cai Qin and other generals became taciturn.
Khufu walked with them every day, and Ziruo also noticed that the atmosphere of the surrounding soldiers became silent. Although their attitude towards him was still respectful, it was no longer as warm and close as it was at the beginning.

This sign and atmosphere made Khufu slightly uneasy.

This day, night.

The garrison troops returning from the north camped for the night on the outskirts of a county town.

Khufu invested money to buy wine and food in the county town. When he came back, he invited Cai Qin and other garrison generals to have dinner in the main tent.

During the dinner, he expressed some words of relief and made some guarantees.

Cai Qin and other generals nodded and smiled reluctantly. The atmosphere was quite warm.

Khufu was so drunk that he drank till the end and lay drunk on the table. With his vision blurred, he faintly saw a school captain walking in from outside the tent, leaning into Cai Qin's ear at the next table, and seemed to say something.

Khufu didn't hear clearly and only saw Cai Qin suddenly getting up.

Then he sat down again and continued drinking.

Khufu raised his head and asked loudly, "What's going on?" Cai Qin shook his head and said that there was a fight between the garrison soldiers and that it had been dealt with.

After saying that, the leader of the garrison returning from the north raised his glass and continued to toast to Khufu.

After a banquet, Khufu became drunk.

When he woke up from peeing and opened his eyes, it was already late at night.

It's pitch black all around.

Khufu got up with some vigilance, looked around, and found that he was lying on the mat of his tent. He was relieved immediately.

He secretly said: "You, you, why are you so surprised?"

What happened recently really frightened him.

Khufu frowned and recalled that he seemed to have been sent back by Cai Qin and others after being drunk.

He left the tent and found a place in the wild grass to urinate. Suddenly, from the corner of his eye, he saw the main tent stationed in the camp still brightly lit, like a banquet.

After the convenience was completed, Khufu approached quietly.

"who?"

A garrison on duty appeared out of nowhere and stopped in front of him.

"It's Zajia."

Just as Khufu spoke, the curtain of the main tent was opened, and Cai Qin came out with a reserved expression:

"Envoy Hu is awake?"

"General Cai is still not sleeping?"

Khufu glanced at the main tent, where there were scattered figures.

Cai Qin shook his head and said:

"I've been having a lot of trouble lately. A brother wanted to drink two more drinks, so I drank with him for a while. Hu Zhongzhi is not strong enough to drink. He got drunk too early. We just sent you back."

"Thank you, General Cai. By the way, which of you is drinking..."

Before Khu Fu could finish his words, Cai Qin took the initiative to step forward, took his arm, and invited him to go for a walk and chat to sober up.

Khufu nodded.

So, the two left the main tent door.

As soon as he arrived and walked not far away, Khufu suddenly turned around.

On the other side of the main tent, figures opened the curtains and left one after another. His sharp eyes saw that in addition to some familiar generals, he also vaguely saw the figure of a sturdy young man in a felt hat, whose face he could not see clearly.

"Sir?" Cai Qin called him from behind.

"Hmm." Khufu pointed over there: "Who is that? Why don't you recognize him?"

Cai Qin turned around and took a look and replied:
"It's a brother from Guizhou. He got separated after leaving Guizhou and just came back..."

"Oh, what's your name and what's your position?"

"Captain Du." Cai Qin hesitated for a moment and announced his name. The next moment, he changed the topic:
"Your Excellency, the envoy, the saints and princes will not be held accountable for the postponement of Guizhou Hall's harsh government. Are Lan Changhao, as well as the chief officials in Hongzhou and Jiangzhou safe and sound?"

Khufu fell silent for a moment, shook his head and said:

"Someone in the court called for a thorough investigation. The saint did not ignore this matter. Don't worry, General Cai. When you go back, the Za family will speak on your behalf. The saint... will uphold justice."

Cai Qin turned around and said, "Who in the DPRK is calling for this?"

"Ouyang Lianghan, the governor of Jiangsu Province, has the toughest attitude."

"Is there only the position of fifth-grade chief historian..." Cai Qin whispered, raised his head, and smiled: "This gentleman is a good man."

Khufu nodded.

The atmosphere was slightly awkward, and the two chatted for a few more words before saying goodbye to each other.

Everyone went back to their tents to sleep.

After returning to the tent and lying down, Khufu tossed and turned and whispered:

"Good luck, what do these mean..."

Soon, the sky outside the tent turned fish-white.

There is morning glow today.

(End of this chapter)