The new era of chaos begins in the Song Dynasty

Chapter 333 Another Fallen

However, Ergou didn't care about the roaring dragon colt, but that didn't mean that others didn't care either.

Thinking about how Lu Bu killed his adoptive father for a red tug at the end of the Han Dynasty, we know how much such good horses are valued by military commanders.

By the way, Lu Bu's second adoptive father's idea was for Diao Chan, the most beautiful woman in the world at that time.

Therefore, the status of a peerless horse and a stunning beauty are almost equally important in the eyes of men of this era. In the eyes of some people, the status of a peerless horse is even more important.

So when Cao Yu came to visit the camp and wanted to get the horse back for nothing on the pretext that the Neighing Wind Rolling Dragon Horse was a gift from the government and could not be given to outsiders, Jia Gan, his lieutenants Liang Mo and others, were present. Qi Huai and Wang DaDa were furious and either sarcastically mocked or cursed at Cao You.

In short, it just means the same thing, but Cao You has no chance of getting back the Neighing Wind Gun Dragon Colt.

Qi Huai and Wang Dangdang were the lieutenants who were not killed by Cao Ping on the spot. When they were rescued, they were seriously injured and lost too much blood, and were almost in danger. Fortunately, two dogs took action in time and saved them from death. Rescued before.

If the timing wasn't right, Ergou could even repair their arm that was cut off by Cao Ping.

And after the battle with Cao Ping, now the soldiers of the four battalions in the camp, including Jia Gan and others, are the only ones who follow the lead of the two dogs.

Because of this, when meeting Cao Yu this time, Er Gou was the one who took the lead and made the decision.

Ergou looked at Cao You, who appeared to be groveling but was actually hiding something, and asked: "General Cao, although the Rolling Dragon Colt was a gift from the official family, it was your Cao family who gave it to you, so the Cao family is responsible for it." If the horse is lost, I don’t know if the official will take care of it. Is it the fault of the Cao family for losing the horse, or the fault of us recklessly seizing the horse?"

"This?" Cao You was speechless for a moment, but then said: "Perhaps everyone can't escape the blame?!"

Ergou laughed loudly and said, "General Cao's remarks are biased! We are guilty of seizing the horse, and we are guilty! If we offer this horse to the official again, I believe the official will be given a lighter sentence, and we may even be meritorious." Not guilty! And if you, the Cao family, lose their royal horse, if you try to deceive the king and ignore me, I'm afraid that the officials will not be able to spare you!"

Cao You broke into a cold sweat after listening to it. Ergou almost hit the point with every sentence he said. Why did Cao You risk being humiliated and beg for the Neighing Wind Rolling Dragon Horse? What he was afraid of was being judged. Family accountability.

Today, he is frivolous and acts wantonly, and the backbone of the Cao family has suffered heavy losses. They dare not test the official's attitude towards the Cao family.

However, Cao You bowed to Ergou and said in a low voice: "Young general, please be kind to me. Although my brother has been rude to the young general and others, there is no enmity between the Cao family and you. Although the Cao family is a general, they resist However, it was the coercion of civil servants.

This conflict with the public and other officials was not what the Cao family wanted, but was controlled by the civil servants and officials in the court. "

Cao You kept his posture very low, looking aggrieved as if he was being coerced by the bad guys.

However, this appearance can only deceive ordinary people who have little understanding of the political ecology of the Song Dynasty, such as Jia Gan and others, but it cannot be concealed from Ergou himself.

During the Song Dynasty, civil society was used to control military affairs, and the status of military personnel was restricted and suppressed by civilian officials. In fact, this may or may not be true.

First of all, you must understand the fact that the warriors of the Song Dynasty were not one body, but were divided into two different groups.

One group is the family of generals who made great contributions to the Zhao and Song Dynasties at the beginning of the Song Dynasty. Later, after Song Taizu released his military power over a cup of wine, they were freed from the state of warlords, such as Cao, Gao, Pan, Shi, Zhang, Guo and others. Jiangmen, who later joined the Yang family, relied on Yang Ye's sacrifice to integrate into this group.

As for the other group, since the founding of the Song Dynasty, they are grassroots warriors who have relied on their military exploits to fight their way up from the bottom of the army step by step. The most famous representatives of this type of people are Di Xiangwu and Yue Wumu (one of the four Zhongxing generals in the Southern Song Dynasty). Yue Fei) and Han Zhongwu (Han Shizhong) also fall into this category.

The so-called use of culture to control martial arts is actually the grassroots martial arts people who are really suppressed.

Not only the civil servants are constantly suppressing them, but also the military personnel of the general sect are suppressing, dividing and wooing the grassroots military personnel all the time.

For example, the two well-known fierce generals among the Yang family generals are Meng Liang and Jiao Zan.

Both of them were grass-roots warriors who had fought their way up from the bottom of the army with their own prowess. In the end, they were spotted by Yang Liulang and became generals of the Yang family. The only pity is that Yang Liulang died so suddenly that there was no time to arrange funeral arrangements. As a result, Meng Liang and Jiao Zan were successively attracted by some civil servants.

Among them, Jiao Zan took refuge with the later prime minister Fu Bi.

Di Xiangwu was also approached by the generals, but unfortunately he was rejected by the arrogant and arrogant man. This also paved the way for him to be forced to death by the civil servants.

The reason why I say this is because the ecological environment of the generals in the Song Dynasty was completely different.

Let’s start with the tradition of warriors before the founding of the Song Dynasty.

The reason why the warlords' melee during the Five Dynasties was difficult to contain was the composition of the army itself. Every military attache with power was almost a miniature warlord. They had their own sources of troops (township parties), territory and the benefits of raising troops. This resulted in The military power of warriors is almost unbreakable.

After Song Taizu established the Song Dynasty, he played the trick of releasing military power over a glass of wine. The founding military heroes wisely gave up control of their own armies, territories, etc. The so-called Forbidden Army of the Song Dynasty was actually Song Taizong handing over those founding generals. After the army was disorganized, it was reorganized into an army that belonged exclusively to the Zhao and Song royal families.

Even Zhao Guan's family was not at ease, so they went to the Gaoliang River for a ride and killed these seemingly unstable old troops to the Liao Kingdom.

I have to say that Zhao Cheshen played this trick very smoothly, at least it was much better than the crude method of Yang Amo of the former Sui Dynasty who sent Goguryeo three times.

Sui Yang played the big guy like a fool, but he turned out to be a real fool.

Of course, the generals did not give up their military power in vain. They also gained many privileges, one of which was the right to marry the royal family, especially the official family.

Note that this is not talking about an ordinary marriage, but the candidate for the position of the empress (the future queen mother) of the mother-in-law world. Among the more famous ones are Empress Cao of Cishengguangxian, Empress Zhanghui Yang, Empress Xuanren Shenglie Gao (Gao Taotao), Empress Zhanghuai Pan (the first empress of Song Zhenzong), etc.

Among the first seven emperors of the Song Dynasty, only Song Zhenzong later violated this agreement and forcibly appointed the singer Liu E as his queen, who later became Empress Zhangxian Mingsu of the Northern Song Dynasty.

However, Liu E is indeed extremely talented and surpasses many men. She is even more outstanding than the other two strange women in history, Empress Lu and Wu Zetian. , Concubine Cao Xian had to submit to her.

Liu E did not think that Lu and Wu would wreak havoc on the dynasty. Part of the reason was due to her own factors, and part of the reason was the restriction from the general's relatives.

The reason why I say so many digressions is actually to express an idea. The power of the general family is not as weak as people think. The suppression by civil servants is simply insignificant to them and cannot affect their foundation.

In fact, the deposed case of Song Renzong's first queen, Guo, was a test by the civil servant group to cut off the general family.

It's a pity that the generals backhandedly nominated their successors, namely Empress Cao of Ci Sheng Guangxian. Even behind Cao, there were Zhang Meiren (later named empress), Empress Wencheng (Concubine Zhang), Concubine Miao, Yang Defei and other candidates lined up to fill their seats.

This action of the Jiangmen family directly dumbfounded the Prime Minister Lu Yijian who was in charge of the matter at the time, and the topic of suppressing the Jiangmen family was never mentioned again.

Of course, the generals also gave face to the civil servants. They often acted lowly in front of the prime minister and rarely acted domineeringly. They looked like grassroots warriors and were beaten by the civil servants, but secretly they made a fortune secretly. For example, Join forces with civilian officials to suppress grassroots warriors.

Originally, Ergou was like most people, but he believed that both general and grassroots warriors were suppressed by the civil service group, even if he had memories of his previous life. But who told him to hook up with a girl from the Yang family?

When Mrs. Yang analyzed the ecological relationship between the general family, the royal family of Zhao and Song Dynasty, and the civil service group to Ergou, she realized a horrifying truth.

Sometimes, for some stories in folklore, it is necessary to look at the essence through the phenomenon in order to understand the meaning.

Let’s take [General of the Yang Family] as an example. The prototype story is that the civil servant Wang Qian, the governor of Weizhou, acted on his own will and misdirected his command, which killed Yang Ye. However, in folklore, it turned out that Pan Mei was jealous of the Yang family, causing Yang Ye to die in battle, and Wang Qian. On the contrary, Qian became the hero who helped Zhongliang redress his grievances (although his purpose was not pure).

Yang Ye's death was actually a struggle for power between the civil servants group and the military generals group (the generals were still in their infancy at this time).

Wang Qian, representative of the civil servants: I have made a very outrageous plan. What do you guys, who are full of muscles, think? Isn’t it great? Who agrees? Who objects?

Honest man Yang Ye: I think this plan is very unrealistic. If I implement it, I will definitely fail or even die.

Wang Qian: Haha! The bad boy finally took the bait! Yang Ye, are you afraid of death if you refuse to implement the plan? ! Do the tens of thousands of troops you bring with you live for a living?

Yang Ye was anxious: I'm not afraid of death, I just don't want to suffer defeat! Okay, I'll just do it.

General Pan Mei: General Yang took over the mission? Well, I think it's good. Don't worry, Wang Qian and I will watch out for you.

Yang Ye was overjoyed: Great! If you don't help me watch my way out, I will definitely die this time.

Wang Qian: Is this Yang Ye out of his mind? Why did he actually execute such an outrageous plan of mine? ! Be a fool! No, I have to run away quickly.

Commander Pan Mei: Wang Qian, don’t run away! What should I do if you run away? ! All right! Even if you are a dead Taoist friend and not a poor Taoist, I will run away too!

Yang Ye performed his mission and retreated to the back road: Hey! Where is the person who responds?

Yang Ye died.

To put it bluntly, Wang Qian, who was a civil servant, formulated an unreliable plan. The original intention was to arouse the dissatisfaction of the military generals, force them to disobey military orders, and then join in their domineering and disobedient behavior. This was a common practice at the time. Civil servants carry out correct routine operations in government.

As a result, Yang Ye, who was born as a general, had a glassy heart, while the general Pan Mei was cunning and cunning, and deliberately sat back and watched Yang Ye die.

As a result, although Yang Ye and one of his sons, Yang Yanyu, died in the Yang family, they were recognized by the general circle; Pan Mei, who had great achievements and shocked the master, successfully retired.

Only the civil service group suffered a heavy blow, and its influence on the military's voice was temporarily interrupted. It was not until Kou Zhun came to power during the Zhenzong period of the Song Dynasty that through the Chanyuan Alliance, civil servants truly gained the privilege of serving as generals and prime ministers.

Of course, that was also the result of the generals who had been weakened by the Battle of Gaoliang River deliberately giving in.

It's already clear at this point.

When brothers Cao Ping and Cao You came here to suppress the Zhao'an rebels, there was no so-called coercion by civil servants in the DPRK and China, but rather collusion between the two sides to get what they wanted.

Therefore, Ergou said with a smile: "General Cao's words are so outrageous, but it is difficult to change the fact that you are the executioners who suppressed the Zhao'an rebel army. Therefore, you can't even think about getting your royal horse back for nothing!"

Cao You saw that the two dogs were not getting enough food and salt, but he felt a little angry in his heart, and just asked: "How can the young general be willing to return the horse?"

Ergou smiled and said: "It's very simple! Exchange it with something!"

Cao You's heart trembled and he asked, "What does the young general want?"

Ergou said: "I don't want much, just half of the baggage taken away by your imperial army, or one hundred thousand gold and silver coins!"

As soon as Ergou said these words, Cao You, Jia Gan and others were all shocked.

Cao You shouted: "You...you are such a lion and open your mouth, don't you think it's too much to bully others?!"

Jia Gan and others also felt that Ergou was a bit greedy.

Ergou laughed loudly and said, "How big of a deal am I, a lion? Not to mention that the baggage in your camp originally belonged to the Zhao'an rebels, and was only taken away by you! Even if there is no such thing as riding a horse, You should return it, I'm just giving you an excuse to return it."

Cao You was a little silent.

Ergou then said: "Of course, General Cao has a mission and is determined to embarrass us and refuses to send the baggage. I will not force others to make things difficult. If you want to get your royal horse back, you have to buy it with real gold and silver. .”

Cao You even refused to speak.

Jia Gan said a little dazedly: "But one hundred thousand guan is too expensive, isn't it?!"

Liang Mo and others also subconsciously nodded in agreement.

Ergou said with a smile: "Then I will do the math for you. A good horse with a shoulder height of seven feet can be purchased in the north for thousands of guan, and it can be sold in the capital for 20,000 to 30,000 guan. And a dragon with a shoulder height of eight feet Ju, even in the Northern Liao Dynasty, was worth 70,000 to 80,000 guan, but if it entered the Song Dynasty, it could be worth more than 100,000 guan. If it entered the capital, it would no longer be a matter of tens of thousands of gold and silver. Only the emperor could Others are not qualified to get hold of the divine items that one is entitled to possess.”

At this point, Ergou smiled and asked Cao You: "General Cao, do I still have some truth?"

Cao You sighed and said: "Young generals can see thousands of miles away, and it is difficult for others to deceive each other. How come Cao has a hundred thousand swords with him when he goes on an expedition this time? Can we owe him first? When the master returns to the court, Cao will definitely have both hands." Send me 110,000 silver coins."

Ergou shook his head and said: "Sorry, we operate on a small scale and we don't accept credit!"

Cao You glanced at Ergou with a complicated expression, but said, "Forgive me, young general. This is a serious matter. Cao really can't make the decision. He has to go back and ask his brother for instructions before he can make a decision."

So Cao Yu took his leave and left.

And just when Cao You met Ergou, the lawn where the corpse was lying on the tiger skin bed in the Forbidden Army tent was experiencing a battle between heaven and man.

The sequelae of exhaustion were taking effect on his body. His whole body was as stiff as a broken machine that had been rusted for a long time. His limbs were numb and weak, his heartbeat was slow, his breathing was weak, and his eyes were dim. His whole body was like a candle in the wind, and his life was crumbling. .

Cao Ping knew that he was heading towards death, because just now he peed under the service of his own soldiers. The color of his urine was dark red hematuria, which meant that his life had entered a countdown.

Cao Ping is not a person who is greedy for life and afraid of death, but he is really unwilling to do so. He has been pressed on top of his head all his life and has never relaxed. He finally survived until Gao Gongji died suddenly, but at this moment, another Xiangzhou Chen Ergou popped up and continued to suppress him. This was really unsettling. !

Cao Ping turned over all kinds of thoughts in his heart, and his past experiences appeared before his eyes like a fleeting tour of flowers.

In fact, Cao Ping's eyes were completely dark and he could not see the real scenery at all, but at this time, there were countless colorful colors presented in front of his eyes.

(End of this chapter)