The new era of chaos begins in the Song Dynasty

Chapter 331: Gao Gongji before him, Chen Ergou behind him

Cao Ping shouted in surprise: "It's you! Why are you here?!"

Cao Ping is fifty-four years old this year. In terms of age, he is even four or five years older than Gao Gongji, who died suddenly that year. The two are considered to be of the same generation.

This was precisely Cao Ping's biggest misfortune in the first half of his life.

Cao Ping showed extraordinary talent in martial arts when he was young, and was capable of defeating thousands of enemies. The Cao family regarded him as the future pillar of the family's military.

But before he could be happy for long, a boy from the Gao family also showed the ability to be an enemy of thousands of people. Not only was he younger than him, but he also grew up much faster than him.

Gao Gongji showed his true invincibility at the age of twenty-two. He once defeated several masters in the imperial weapon class. Cao Ping once secretly competed with one of the masters in the imperial weapon class, but he could only barely win. Falling to the wind.

When the twenty-nine-year-old Gao Gongji swept across the capital for Empress Dowager Gao, overwhelming all the top leaders, Cao Ping, who had also grown into a top leader, could only look up at his back.

The reason why Cao Ping was not included in the sweep list by Gao Gongji was very simple. Cao Ping's father, Cao Yi, was a smart man. He offered the loyalty of the Cao family as soon as Empress Dowager Gao listened behind the curtain.

The name Cao Yi may not be very familiar to everyone, but Cao Yi's other identity is widely known to future generations, that is, Cao Guojiu, one of the Eight Immortals of Shangdong.

Although they were both in the capital and both were top figures, Cao Ping had never even fought against Gao Gongji once.

But there are many secret contests.

For example, even if the masters Gao Gongji defeated were alive, Cao Ping would come to weigh them.

There is a saying in the Three Kingdoms: If there is Yu, how can there be Liang?

And if justice is born, how can justice be born? ! ! ! (Cao Ping's courtesy name is Zhengyi, Gao Gongji's courtesy name is Junzheng)

For Cao Ping, this was the most heartbreaking sentence.

When Gao Gongji was still alive, Cao Ping paid attention to him all the time and knew almost everything that happened around Gao Gongji.

This includes his own wishes, as well as the responsibilities assigned to Cao Ping by the officials.

Not to mention the Yuanyou period, Gao Gongji was at its peak at that time.

During the Shaosheng years, although Gao Gongji was mostly suspected by Zhe Zong, the only person who made him choke in a fight in public was a country boy of unknown origin.

Even Gao Gongji's sudden death later had something to do with that boy.

How could Cao Ping not remember the strange boy named Chen Ergou? He even investigated Ergou's life story thoroughly, including the fact that he had shot him with an arrow. He would not have missed anything. .

Of course, Cao Ping was quite ambivalent about the result of that arrow.

Since he regretted that he could not kill the two dogs with one arrow, if he could shoot him directly, combined with the boy's subsequent record of defeating Gao Gongji, wouldn't it mean that Cao Ping defeated Gao Gongji once.

Likewise, Cao Ping was glad that Ergou saved his life from his arrow, otherwise there would be no fun for Gao Gongji to be defeated.

It was this contradictory mentality that made Cao Ping obsessed with Ergou.

The only pity is that Cao Ping has never really seen Ergou. When he shot the arrow, he only got a glimpse from a distance.

Therefore, Cao Ping only looked at their faces and could not recognize the two dogs.

As soon as Ergou talked about the past, Cao Ping immediately guessed his identity.

Cao Ping only screamed in surprise, but when he looked at Ergou, his eyes revealed an indescribable fanatical fighting spirit.

He said with a meaningful smile: "If you don't enjoy the blessings of the Qi people in Xiangzhou, why do you come here?!"

Ergou was shocked, is this guy investigating me? !

But his face didn't show it, and he said with a smile: "How can I not avenge an arrow? I heard that General Cao is going west, so I came here to pay for it!"

When Cao Ping heard this, he laughed loudly and said: "You are arrogant! The Sa family knows that you have some abilities. Gao Junzheng did not do anything to get you back then. But Cao is not Gao Junzheng and will never show mercy to the younger generation. You come to find me." If you ask for debt, you will lose your life if you can't do it! Just like these chickens and dogs on the ground."

As Cao Ping spoke, he finally pointed at the leader of the rebel deputy general who was lying on the ground struggling.

Ergou sneered and said: "Cao Ping, there is a personal enmity between you and me, and we have to live and die according to our destiny. These people are the only ones who are killed and humiliated by your leader. Could it be that they also have enmity with you?"

Cao Ping smiled happily and said, "No hatred!"

"Then they are enemies of the Song Dynasty?" Ergou asked again.

Cao commented: "It used to be! But now they have been pardoned by the officials and can even be counted as friendly troops."

Ergou asked again: "Then they must be thieves who have not changed their nature and acted wantonly, thus violating military discipline and should be punished?!"

Cao Ping already knew what Ergou wanted to say, but he said: "He has never violated military discipline. It's just that he followed the wrong person and got implicated, but he refused to obey the instructions honestly. He was so ignorant of current affairs. What a pity to kill this idiot!"

But the leader of the lieutenant general with a broken arm lying on the ground next to him cursed: "Traitor! You are depriving us of food. In order to make our army morale collapse, the soldiers will mutiny and plunder the place! But don't even think about it! When we are thieves, we still don't have to fight." Refuse to torture innocent people! How can we, as officers and soldiers, harm innocent people in Lantian County?!"

Cao Ping shouted coldly: "Noisy! How dare you, Junior Zuer, bark here! Cao Hu! Cut off the head of this talkative talent!"

As soon as Cao Ping said these words, Ergou's expression turned cold.

But when a guard general beside Cao Ping galloped out on horseback and slashed at the shouting deputy general with a knife, Ergou stopped him with his gun and shouted: "Go back! I have saved these people." !”

Cao Hu laughed ferociously, raised his knife and slashed at the two dogs.

Ergou would not tolerate him, especially after confirming the character of Cao Ping and his party, but he no longer had the thought of being merciful.

Therefore, the two dogs thrust out a spear, instantly piercing Cao Hu's throat, and then let Cao Hu fall in the dust.

Cao Ping's expression changed when he saw Ergou's shot. Others might not be able to see the mystery of Ergou's shot, but Cao Ping knew the horror in it.

quick! allow! stable!

And without a hint of fireworks.

The so-called lack of fireworks means that there seems to be no emotional drive, and there is no utilitarian or intentional attack.

It is as natural as a person subconsciously waving his arms to drive away mosquitoes when he sees them approaching.

To put it bluntly, it is an attack method that is almost conditioned reflex.

This means that Ergou's martial arts has been trained into his bones and has become something unique to him.

This also means that Ergou has reached the same level as top players such as Gao Gongji and Cao Ping.

Cao Ping finally confirmed the fact that Gao Gongji failed to do anything to win over the boy in front of him. Perhaps it was not that Gao Gongji made a soft-hearted mistake as he thought before, but that there was really nothing he could do about him.

At the same time, an uncontrollable jealousy surged in Cao Ping's heart. He hated talented people.

Although Cao Ping himself is considered a top genius, he hates animals that are more talented than him. For example, Gao Gongji, for example, this bitch in front of me!

At that time, when Gao Gongji was twenty-two years old, his martial arts reached its peak, and when he was twenty-six or seven years old, he became invincible.

However, Cao Ping did not achieve great martial arts skills until he was in his thirties, barely reaching the top.

The brat in front of me is only young now, twenty years old at most, or even less than that. But he has also achieved the highest level, which means that he is a beast even more than Gao Gongji.

For such a monster-like guy, Cao Ping's only thought was to destroy him.

The young eagle breaks its wings!

The tiger's claws are broken!

The young dragon split its head!

Genius dies young!

Nothing more than that!

Just do it! Cao Ping secretly raised the knife and touched the horse's belly under his feet. The dragon horse rushed subconsciously and rushed to Ergou's flank. Then a broadsword was instantly slashed out like a poisonous snake in the shadow, slashing straight at Ergou's chest. Shoulder.

If this cut was done properly, Ergou would be cut into two pieces diagonally from the shoulder. No matter how good the treatment method was, Ergou would not be able to repair it, and in the end he would have to give up his life.

Although Ergou had no time to cross the gun, he raised the tail of the gun and held the gun (the metal weight on the tail of the gun can be used as a grip) outwards, just in time to block the incoming Qinglong sword.

This collision shocked both Ergou and Cao Ping.

If Ergou had committed suicide a few months earlier, he would definitely not have been able to block Cao Ping's sudden stabbing blow. It wasn't that Ergou couldn't react in time, but that he lacked physical strength before.

The power of Cao Ping's sword was as heavy as a mountain. At this time, the two dogs could choke a galloping horse with one arm, but they could only barely block it.

Two months ago, he would have been unable to block Cao Ping's sword.

But Cao Ping was even more frightened. His sword had already taken advantage of a sneak attack. Even Gao Gongji could not escape from the sudden attack, and there was a high chance that he would be directly killed. He wanted to kill, but the kid in front of him blocked it seemingly casually.

This was simply a blow to Cao Ping's self-confidence and shattered his outlook.

You know, if there is a raid between generals, the raider will take advantage. For example, in the late Han Dynasty, Huang Zhong killed Xia Houyuan, and Wei Yan killed Wang Shuang.

The attacker's martial arts didn't have much of an advantage. If there was less than 180 rounds in a fair fight, there would be no way to tell the difference. However, they were able to kill the opponent in one attack, which actually took advantage of the surprise attack.

This was also the psychological advantage that gave Cao Ping confidence that if he had faced Gao Gongji, he would have taken advantage of him with this trick.

But now, this sense of psychological superiority immediately turned into a shadow lingering in his heart after a single blow failed.

Of course, just because one blow failed does not mean that Cao Ping will stop there.

However, he unfolded his sword and struck at the two dogs with one sword after another.

However, Ergou had no time to adjust his horse's position, so he had to use his position facing Cao Ping to return the spear and stab him quickly.

However, Ergou is not stupid. He will not stay where he is and be controlled by others. Instead, he will urge the colorful-faced horse to run forward at a high speed to get out of contact with Cao Ping as soon as possible. Then he will turn the horse's head to fight the dirty guy with all his strength.

It's a pity that Cao Ping refused to give up his positional advantage. He also instigated Gunlongju to follow Ergou closely, and the Green Dragon Sword in his hand was splashed on Ergou's side like water.

But even if Cao Ping took such a big advantage, he still couldn't gain the slightest advantage in the fight with Ergou.

The two horses galloped for hundreds of meters, but Ergou's Liquan gun collided with Cao Ping's Qinglong knife nearly a thousand times. The weapons collided like saws, and sparks flew like fireflies.

The sergeants on both sides were stunned by the battle.

All the personal guards under Cao Ping were terrified. Fortunately, it was Cao Hu who came forward to kill him. If it were them, they would have to go to the Palace of Hell to report!

As for the rebels, they were inexplicably surprised and cursed Cao Ping for his lack of martial ethics. They agreed to compete in front of the formation, but they launched a sneak attack as soon as they started. It was so shameless!

Of course, despite being pleasantly surprised, Rapier had not forgotten Ergou's previous instructions. He immediately called on several small schools to lead people to snatch the bodies and wounded of the three defeated lieutenants.

This time, even the timidest sergeant dared to grab people on the battlefield.

He was talking about Liang Mo, the only remaining deputy general. This guy was brave this time. He put on his armor and did not wear a helmet. He rushed out of the camp with a bare head and a sword, and soon met with some people. The colonel rushed to the three lieutenants who fell to the ground, restrained them and other dead people, carried the injured, and successfully took them back to the camp.

In fact, Cao Ping's bodyguards were not without masters, but at this time no one dared to stop him.

It's not that they can't stop it, it's that they can't stop it.

The sage has a saying: Don’t do to others what you don’t want others to do to you.

Mr. Lu Xun once said: You do the first grade of junior high school, and I do the fifteenth grade.

When Cao Ping played a crushing game before, with General Cao standing in front of him, everyone naturally did whatever they wanted, without necessarily having to negotiate rules with the opponent.

But now General Cao has met his enemy, which means that in the future battles, they can no longer count on General Cao to take them flying.

If they don't pay more attention at this time, I'm afraid that the enemy troops on the opposite side will turn against them, which will be very bad.

So with the silent understanding of both parties, the remnants of the previous battlefield were cleared away, leaving a huge space for Ergou and Cao Ping, who were fighting, to gallop freely.

The two sides fought for a long time, with both horses running a full four or five miles away, but the two dogs never found a chance to turn their horses' heads.

This was not because of Ergou's lack of ability, but because his war horse, the Painted Face Colt, was far inferior in foot strength compared to Cao Ping's Neighing Wind Rolling Dragon Colt.

The painted-faced pony is nearly six feet tall at the shoulders, which is much lower than the wind-tearing beast that Ergou was given as a gift back then.

Cao Ping's Neighing Wind Dragon Colt is the Dawan Dragon Colt given by the emperor. It is nearly eight feet tall at the shoulders, even better than the Neighing Wind Beast.

To put it bluntly, Cao Pingma is fast.

Back then, Guan Gong rode a red rabbit horse to kill Yan Liang in the midst of thousands of troops, taking advantage of the horse's speed.

Red Rabbit Horse has the best foot power in the world, so Yan Liang couldn't beat Guan Gong and couldn't run away, so he had to give away his head.

Otherwise, Yan Liang would have been able to escape without being protected by his bodyguards.

At this time, Cao Ping not only had a fast horse, but also a sharp sword, but he only managed to kill the two dogs and was unable to reverse the unfavorable situation.

But that doesn't mean this situation will last forever.

As the saying goes, toughness never lasts. No matter how strong Cao Ping is, he can't keep attacking. After all, he is also a human being, and he is a veteran in his fifties. No matter how good his physical strength is, he has already declined.

　The child has been hospitalized with fever for the past two days, and the correction is not very stable.

　　

　

(End of this chapter)