The First Great Ancestor of the Five Dynasties

Chapter 122 The Xue family comes to an end and everything is covered with chicken feathers

In front of the gate of Fengxiang Military Camp, brothers Xu Xingsi and Xue Xiuming, who had been waiting for a long time, hurriedly came forward to greet them.

Jiao Jixun got off his horse, glanced at them, and with a cold face, he gave orders to his subordinates, and then walked quickly towards the Chinese army's tent.

Xu Xingsi looked around and asked in surprise: "Where is Zhu Xiu?"

As Jiao Jixun walked away, he took off his sword and riding whip and handed them to his guards, saying calmly: "Let them go."

"Let it go?!" Xu Xingsi raised his voice and widened his eyes, "How could you let it go?"

Xue Xiuming and Xue Xiuliang looked at each other with extremely ugly expressions.

Jiao Jixun paused and said indifferently: "Li Shouzhen wrote a letter personally and came forward to vouch for the Zhangyi Army. He said that anyone who dares to touch the salt factory will be against the Hezhong Army. Tell me, how should I respond?"

Xu Xingsi was so angry that he was trembling all over: "Is he, Li Shouzhen, really so arrogant? I must return to Chang'an and ask Inspector Wang to take part in him!"

Jiao Jixun sneered and said: "Superintendent Wang must have also received Li Shouzhen's letter. With his involvement, the salt factory matter will have to be considered in the long term. I'm afraid the order Wang Du has given you is already halfway through, so you just have to wait patiently." "

Jiao Jixun glanced at the Xue brothers, said nothing, opened the curtain and entered the big tent.

Xu Xingsi hurriedly followed in.

Xue Xiuming and the other two wanted to follow, but were stopped by the guards.

"What does this mean?" Xue Xiuliang was furious and clenched his fists.

The guard held the knife in his hand and looked at him expressionlessly.

Xue Xiuming's face turned green and red, and with a gloomy face, he turned and walked towards the camp gate.

Xue Xiuliang hurriedly caught up: "Brother, what do Jiao Shuai and Xu Dushang mean?"

Xue Xiuming clenched his fists tightly, and said coldly: "What do you mean? My Xue family has been treated as an outcast and thrown aside!"

Xue Xiuliang was shocked: "You mean that Jiao Jixun wants to withdraw his troops?"

Xue Xiuming nodded, feeling a stagnation in his chest that was difficult to relieve.

"The salt factory is hugely profitable, are Jiao Jixun and Xu Xingsi willing to give it up?" Xue Xiuliang still refused to give up.

Xue Xiuming's eyes were a little red, and he gritted his teeth and said in a low voice: "So what if you don't want to? Li Shouzhen in Hezhong is known as the king of Guanzhong. How can Jiao Jixun and Wang Jun offend him because of a little salt?"

Xue Xiuliang was startled and said viciously: "If you give up Yanli, the Zhangyi Army will not be able to last long! Shi Kuangwei refuses the tiger at the front door and the wolf at the back door, and sooner or later he will be swallowed by Li Shouzhen!"

Xue Xiuming walked more and more hurriedly and said coldly: "As soon as Fengxiang Army leaves, Shi Kuangwei will definitely not let us go. We should think about how to escape first!"

Xue Xiuliang also broke into a cold sweat: "Yes, yes, it seems that we can only find a way to escape from Jingzhou before we try anything else."

Xue Xiuming suddenly stopped, his eyes flashed, and he said in a low voice: "In this case, you stay, return to Chang'an with Xu Xingsi, ask to see Wang Jun, and ask Wang Dujian to make the decision for us!"

"What about you?" Xue Xiuliang swallowed.

"I will secretly go north to Yuanzhou tonight to join the Dingnan Army! If Zhu Xiu sends troops to pursue you, you will..."

Xue Xiuming looked around and whispered for a while.

After hearing this, Xue Xiuliang broke into a cold sweat, his face changed, and he nodded fiercely.

"Even if the Xue family leaves Jingzhou, it won't make things easier for Zhang Yijun!" Xue Xiuming's face was a little twisted.

~~~
In the big tent of the Chinese army, Xu Xingsi still muttered unwillingly: "Jiao Shuai, think of a way, you can't give Li Shouzhen the fat in your mouth for nothing!"

Jiao Jixun ignored him, found a map of Guanzhong and hung it up. He stared at the map and fell into deep thought.

"Hey Jiao Shuai, we are not marching to fight now. What's the use of just looking at the map?" Xu Xingsi complained dissatisfiedly.

Jiao Jixun glanced at him and said, "If you ask the Wangdu Supervisor to report to the imperial court, and ask the imperial court to issue an order to reprimand Li Shouzhen and not allow him to interfere in the affairs of the Zhangyi Army, there may be a chance of improvement."

Xu Xingsi stamped his feet and said: "The king is in prison in Chang'an. When the memorial is sent to Kaifeng, the day lilies are already cold! What's more, Li Shouzhen is sitting in the middle of the river and has tens of thousands of soldiers under his command. Just for such a trivial matter, how can the officials issue an edict to reprimand him?" "

Jiao Jixun sneered: "Li Shouzhen intervened. Those bullies in the court who are afraid of the strong will most likely turn a blind eye, so there is no solution to this matter. There is no point in staying here longer, so it is better to leave as soon as possible. Wait for me to collect the remaining tens of thousands of kilograms Once the salt is transported away, the Fengxiang army will withdraw from the border of Jingzhou."

Xu Xingsi opened his mouth wide, feeling speechless.

You took away tens of thousands of pounds of salt, but what about me?
If I go back empty-handed, how do I explain it to Supervisor Wang?
Xu Xingsi was about to cry, but it was a pity that he didn't have any soldiers under his command.

"No, no~" Jiao Jixun stared at the map and muttered to himself suddenly.

"What's wrong?" Xu Xingsi was weak and sat slumped aside.

Jiao Jixun frowned and said, "Li Shouzhen's letter came too fast. Even if the people sent by Zhu Xiu had great travel, they shouldn't have brought Li Shouzhen's letter back from the river in such a short period of time. Unless"

"Unless what?" Xu Xingsi looked miserable, his expression uglier than mourning.

"Unless Li Shouzhen is in Chang'an! This speed is the limit for traveling between Anding and Chang'an. It is impossible to reach the middle of the river!"

Jiao Jixun punched his palm, and then he couldn't figure it out, how could Li Shouzhen appear in Chang'an?
He is the commander-in-chief of Hezhong Prefecture, and he is stationed in Puzhou and Tongguan. Why did he go to Chang'an?
Jiao Jixun shook his head, feeling that he was too worried.

But I still can't figure out how Zhu Xiu's people brought Li Shouzhen's autographed letter from the river back to Anding in a short time?

"Report-"

Suddenly, there was a long emergency call outside the tent, which sounded like something urgent.

Jiao Jixun felt his heart thump, and Xu Xingsi was so frightened that he almost collapsed to the ground.

A Fengxiang Army soldier rushed into the tent, knelt down on one knee and clasped his fists, and shouted: "Commander Commander, Chencang is reporting urgently: more than [-] Shu troops are marching towards Sanguan! Inspection envoy Wang Jingchong has led Chencang's troops there. Disperse customs support, Inspector Wang asks the handsome master to return as soon as possible!"

"What!?" Jiao Jixun was shocked and furious. He led his army north to Jingzhou. The news was sealed very tightly. Only senior generals and officials in Jiezhen knew about it. He was worried that the news would be leaked and make the Shu army think that Qizhou's defenses were empty and take the opportunity to come. commit.

Unexpectedly, the return journey was about to begin, and there was indeed something strange about the Shu army.

"Pass my command to the whole army to break camp immediately and rush back to Qizhou! I will lead the cavalry first and order the commander of Zhoudu to lead the rest of the troops to Qigu County and escort the [-] kilograms of salt back to Yong County! "Without much hesitation, Jiao Jixun gave the order decisively.

The messenger soldier hesitated and said: "There are still nearly [-] kilograms of salt in the camp that have not been loaded onto the truck."

Jiao Jixun waved his hand: "I can't care anymore, just throw it all away and ensure that the [-] kilograms of salt that was previously transported to Quaigu is safely transported back to Yong County!"

The soldiers received the order loudly, exited the camp and went down to deliver the order.

Xu Xingsi had a look of pain on his face: "Forty thousand kilograms of good salt, why did you leave it to Shi Kuangwei for nothing?"

Jiao Jixun said coldly: "You can move if you can, but don't blame me for not reminding you that once Fengxiang's army leaves, the thousands of people in the Xue family will not be the opponent of Zhangyi's army, and Shi Kuangwei will not watch you touch it." His salt is indifferent. If you don’t want to leave and want to stay and fight with the Changyi Army, please feel free to do so!”

After saying that, Jiao Jixun ignored him, took his sword and went out of the tent, urging the soldiers to pack their bags and prepare to return south overnight.

Xu Xingsi gritted his teeth and stamped his feet. No matter how much salt there was, it was not as important as his life. What if Shi Kuangwei went crazy as soon as Feng Xiangjun left, and he was hurt?
Immediately, Xu Xingsi didn't care about coveting the tens of thousands of kilograms of salt, and trotted out of the tent, mounted his horse and rushed to the Xue family camp.

He wanted to use the protection of the Xue family to return to Chang'an safely. At the same time, he also took the Xue family brothers to see Wang Jun and give a good report to the rebels.

It won't be too late to deal with Shi Kuangwei after Wang Dujian takes action.

In an instant, under the dusk sky, both camps were a chaotic scene.

On the mound not far away, several figures climbed up and ran towards the county seat.The sky darkened, night fell, and the county gate opened. More than two thousand Zhangyi troops marched out, divided into two groups. One group was led by Wei Hu and rushed to the Xue family camp. The other group was led by Zhu Xiu and went straight to the Fengxiang Army station. .

Zhu Xiu and Shi Lingyan were riding a maroon horse together. Shi Lingyan tightened the reins, and Zhu Xiu sat behind her, hugging her waist tightly. Except for the bumpy and painful buttocks when the horse ran with its hooves, there was no other discomfort.

Fengxiang's army left in a hurry, and there were many tents, ordnance, carriages, and cooking stoves scattered in the camp, as if they had fled in a panic after losing a battle.

While Zhu Xiu sent people to collect them, he personally led his people to the place where the salt bags were piled.

"Look, little official!" Ma Qing pointed to the open space in front of him with sharp eyes. In the dark night, there were piles of salt bags stacked up, and more than a dozen figures were sneaking around, carrying dry firewood and kerosene, preparing to set fire to it.

Zhu Xiu was furious: "Kill them!"

Yan Ping, Chen An and others immediately rushed forward, while Ma Qing led others to surround them to prevent anyone from escaping.

The battle ended quickly, and when Zhu Xiu inspected the corpses with a torch, someone recognized them as members of Xue Jiaya's foreign army.

"Fortunately, the official sent someone to keep an eye on it early, otherwise the remaining tens of thousands of kilograms of salt would have been wasted by the Xue family." Ma Qing patted his chest with a look of fear.

Zhu Xiudao: "You lead the people to transport the salt back to the city quickly. Yan Ping and Chen An follow me to the Yawai military camp. Once Fengxiang's army leaves, the Xue family will definitely flee. Then send people back to the city to inform Guan Tieshi and ask him to send troops to guard it." Qingshi Ridge prevents the Xue family from escaping to Yuanzhou."

The crowd took their orders away.

When Zhu Xiu led his people to the Xue family camp, Wei Hu, who was killed at the moment, was already fighting with the Xue family rebels.

The number of rebels was almost twice that of the Ya soldiers, but they were suppressed and beaten severely by Wei Hu. Nearly half of the rebels collapsed at the first touch and fled in all directions, crying and screaming.

A fire broke out in the camp, and Pang Guangsheng led his tooth soldiers to hunt down the deserters.

Several Ya soldiers who defected from the city and went to the Xue family knelt down and begged to surrender. Without saying a word, Wei Hu raised his sword and beheaded two of them on the spot. The remaining few panicked, got up, picked up their weapons and fought back, killing them. After turning over several tooth soldiers, Wei Hu killed him with an arrow.

Zhu Xiu saw this scene in his eyes. Seeing that Pang Guangsheng was about to behead several soldiers who abandoned their weapons and surrendered, Zhu Xiu hurriedly shouted: "Stop!"

Pang Guangsheng was stunned when he heard this, and slowly lowered the machete he was swinging over his head.

Several rebel soldiers fell in front of the bay-red horse, kowtowed and cried bitterly.

Zhu Xiu and Shi Lingyan jumped off their horses and were about to ask questions when they heard a "whoosh" sound in their ears and a feather arrow shot towards Zhu Xiu's door!

"Young Master, be careful!" Yan Ping and Chen An's expression changed drastically, and they all rushed towards Zhu Xiu.

Zhu Xiu trembled all over. He couldn't see the arrow clearly in the darkness, but the sound of wind in his ears made his legs stiffen.

Shi Lingyan was the closest to Zhu Xiu. Almost subconsciously, she turned around and threw Zhu Xiu down and pinned him down.

Zhu Xiu heard a painful groan in her ears, and a little blood splashed onto her cheek, burning hot.

An arrow shot past Shi Lingyan's shoulder, and the cluster of sharp arrows cut a deep bloody gash on her shoulder.

"Yan'er!" Zhu Xiu yelled and hugged her tightly.

"I'm fine~" Shi Lingyan covered his bleeding shoulder and forced a smile, his lips turning white.

Another feather arrow came from the same direction. This time, it hit the back of a kneeling soldier who surrendered, killing him on the spot.

Yan Ping and Chen An rushed in front of Zhu Xiu, holding their swords horizontally as if facing a formidable enemy.

Not far away, Wei Hu put down his bow and strode over.

Under the darkness of night, his dark face could not be seen clearly, but his eyes were like a pair of wild wolves with a cold light.

"Wei Yashuai!?" Yan Ping and Chen An were shocked. The person who fired the arrow just now turned out to be Wei Hu!

Zhu Xiu was also stunned. When he raised his head, he met Wei Hu's eyes and felt a chill running through his body.

Wei Hu walked to the soldier who was shot to death, picked up a dagger from under him, weighed it and threw it in front of Zhu Xiu.

"Just now, this man secretly took out a dagger from his leg and prepared to attack you when you got close. I was afraid of frightening him, so I didn't warn him. I only dared to shoot arrows from a distance. I missed my target in my haste."

Wei Hu explained, squatting down to check Shi Lingyan's injuries.

Zhu Xiu heaved a sigh of relief, smiled wryly and said, "No wonder Brother Wei, I was negligent."

Seeing that Shi Lingyan only had a flesh wound, Wei Hu felt relieved and said in a deep voice: "You are now acting as the Jiedushi envoy. You have to make decisions on all matters of the Zhangyi Army. As the commander of an army, you must not take risks easily."

Zhu Xiu said ashamedly: "Brother Wei taught me a lesson."

Yan Ping escorted Shi Lingyan back to the city. Wei Hu, carrying a horizontal sword, kicked over a fallen pawn and raised the sword to kill. Zhu Xiu hurriedly called to stop.

Wei Hu raised his knife and looked at him with a frown.

"Commander Jie has ordered that if Fanya's foreign soldiers are willing to surrender, we might as well give them a way to survive. Most of these people are Jingzhou people, and they can only make a living with the Xue family. We must gather them up, do hard labor for a few years, and release them to their fields." , there is no need to kill them all." Zhu Xiu sighed and said.

Wei Hu thought for a while, then put down the knife: "It's up to you."

"Pang Guangsheng and Chen An, please send orders to each commander. Anyone who abandons his weapons and surrenders will be spared death. No one is allowed to kill and surrender soldiers without permission. Anyone who disobeys the order will be subject to military law!" Zhu Xiu ordered sternly.

"Yes!" The two of them went down to deliver the order.

Soon, the rebels no longer resisted and knelt down to ask for surrender. Hundreds of surrendered soldiers were detained and returned to the city.

Wei Hu pulled out a person from the prisoners. With the help of a torch, Zhu Xiu took a closer look and felt that this person looked familiar.

"This beast used to be the fourth deputy commander of the Ya Army. Last year, outside the Longshan Pass, the handsome man personally rescued him from the Tubo people's knife. Unexpectedly, this beast turned around and defected to the Xue family."

Wei Hu put the horizontal knife under his throat.

Zhu Xiu kicked him hard several times and shouted: "Where are Xue Xiuming and Xue Xiuliang?"

The man's crotch came out with a smell of urine, and he cried mournfully: "Xue Xiuming led three or five of his confidants to escape to the north in the middle of the night! Xue Xiuliang led more than a hundred people to protect Xu Xingsi heading east along the Pushui River, saying that I have to go back to Chang'an to bring in reinforcements."

Zhu Xiu was startled and shouted angrily: "Where is Xue Xiuming fleeing to? Is it Yuanzhou?"

"You really don't know this, you villain~~ Master Tiger, Deputy Zhu, please spare your life~~" The man began to cry bitterly.

Wei Hu hit him hard on the back of the head and knocked him unconscious, asking Pang Guangsheng to take him down and deal with him.

The rebels in Zhecheng City can be surrendered, but none of these Yajun traitors must be retained.

Take him down and execute him secretly, so as not to cause panic among the soldiers.

"What should we do now?" Wei Hu sheathed his sword.

Zhu Xiu said with a calm face: "If Xue Xiuming fled to Yuanzhou, it means that there must be someone to support him in Yuanzhou. There has been no movement from the Dingnan Army for more than a month. I am worried that the party members will take the opportunity to go south to cause trouble, so we must rush him before he escapes." Stop him before leaving Jingzhou!"

Wei Hu said: "Anding County still needs you to come and sit in town. Send Guan Tieshi to chase Xue Xiuming, and I will personally lead people to chase Xue Xiuliang."

Zhu Xiudao: "Thank you, Big Brother Wei. I'll go there myself. Remember, if you catch up, Xue Xiuliang doesn't care about life or death, but Xu Xingsi must not hurt his life, first arrest him, and then I will find a way to find a chance to contact Wang Jun. Wang Jun is the emperor's confidant, it is best not to provoke him, if Xu Xingsi died in Jingzhou, he will definitely blame us. Wang Jun is a villain, there is no need to have a death feud with him."

"I know, there will be news back within five days." Wei Hu nodded and ordered Pang Guangsheng to quickly select more than fifty cavalry troops, and the group galloped eastward.

Zhu Xiu led his men to clear the battlefield and then returned to the county seat.

(End of this chapter)