The inner courtyard of the Governor's Mansion has been decorated as a mourning hall.

In the middle of the nave, there are two huge memorial tablets, and servants in plain clothes are adding paper money to the brazier. Gao Ao is holding Xiao Jing's hand, both of them are dressed in filial piety, and they are standing at the door of the nave watching the people walk in.

Xiao Ding.

Without removing his armor or sword, Xiao Dingpong knelt down in front of the spiritual throne with a loud bang.

Gao Yi and Xiao Jing were both startled by the sound of a thud. They looked at Xiao Ding, their foreheads already bright red.

There were several more "dong-dong" sounds, and each time Xiao Ding tapped the capital very hard. After three taps, blood was already flowing.

"Officer!" Gao Yi knelt beside Xiao Ding and took his arm.

"Father!" Xiao Jing cried loudly, obviously frightened.

Xiao Ding took one by one and stood up. He said nothing more and just stared at the two spiritual tablets on the altar table for a long time.

He left home to join the army at the age of sixteen. At that time, he was still a lad who didn't have to think about anything.

In the blink of an eye, ten years have passed and he is already twenty-six years old.

The youngest marching commander in the Song Dynasty.

A general who controls an army of 100,000 and controls a land thousands of miles away.

Once upon a time, he was still thinking about how to serve his parents, how to let the elderly enjoy the happiness of family relationships, and how to make his parents proud of him.

Unexpectedly, he died in the middle.

The son wants to take care of him, but he doesn't care for him.

Think about it, I really haven’t done anything filial in these years!

"Officer!" Gao Yi's voice came from beside him.

Xiao Ding turned his head, looked at Gao Yi who looked worried, and said softly: "Don't worry, you are a married daughter, the daughter-in-law of my Xiao family, and have nothing to do with the Gao family. You will not be involved.

Even if something happens to those who come to the Gao family, Duke Baoguo will surely be able to handle it."

Gao Yi shook her head slightly: "I'm not worried about my mother's family, I'm just worried about you. Are we going to go to war with the imperial court?"

"The war has begun!" Xiao Ding said: "The moment I entered the mansion, news came from Shentang Fort that Li Dan led thousands of troops to sneak attack on our fortress, but Li Yituo and Fenwu set up an ambush halfway.

First, most of their troops were annihilated, and then they were defeated in the border city of Ding. They killed Zhao and Song generals Li Dan, Hao Yue, Qiu Zheng, Jie Dong, and nearly ten thousand Song troops were either killed or captured."

Gao Yi let out a heavy breath. Before the war started, he had endless worries of all kinds. But now that the news has come, he felt relieved.

What is supposed to come, will always come.

Moreover, there is no retreat at all.

Li Dan was the top general of the Song Dynasty on the Shaanxi Road. Even he was killed by the officials' subordinates. So what else is there to say?

"Can we win?" she asked tremblingly.

"I don't know!" He said he didn't know, but his tone was extremely firm: "You have to fight to know."

When Xiao Ding appeared in the vestibule of the General Manager's Mansion again, Zhang Yuan, Tuoba Yangwei and others who had been waiting there were stunned.

For a moment, they did not realize that the person standing in front of them was their leader Xiao Ding.

The beard that Xiao Ding had grown for many years was cleanly shaved, and what appeared in front of everyone was a slightly unfamiliar face.

Xiao Ding is very handsome. He has perfectly inherited Mrs. Han's genes. On the contrary, Xiao Erlang Xiao Cheng is more like Xiao Yu. It is because of this face that Xiao Ding had to grow a big beard when he first joined the army.

, to make himself look more fierce.

After more than ten years, Xiao Bearded's evil reputation has spread far and wide among the Liao people, and now naturally it has frightened all the tribes in the northwest.

Today, Xiao Ding shaved off his beard.

The corners of Zhang Yuan's mouth curved, but he swallowed the smile forcefully.

There was a white curtain wrapped around the steward's forehead, and there were faint blood stains on it. It was obvious that it had just been broken in the inner hall.

They all go to the inner hall to have a drink, so of course they know what's going on inside.

Xiao Ding looked calm at the moment, but in fact, he was just as angry as a volcano about to erupt, and would erupt if the slightest mistake was made.

Xiao Ding is usually very kind and rarely gets angry.

But once you really get angry, it doesn't matter who comes to talk to you.

"Everyone, sit down!" Xiao Ding, who was wearing a mourning dress with a hemp rope tied around his waist, took a seat in the middle and waved to everyone.

There was a loud clattering sound of tables, chairs and benches being dragged.

Speaking of which, these are all things left by Xiao Erlang back then.

When a meeting is held, everyone sits around a long table. There is already a pen or secretary who writes down the general situation of the things to be discussed today on pieces of paper and places them in front of each person attending the meeting.

Everyone can see the meeting agenda at a glance.

During the meeting, there were also several secretaries sitting in a corner, responsible for recording the entire meeting process including everyone's speeches and final decisions.

At first, everyone including Zhang Yuan, Tuoba Yangwei and others were not used to it, but gradually, this became a tradition of the Western Army. From the General Manager's Office to every county, it has become like this.

What is good above will be replicated below.

"When my second brother left the northwest, he had a long conversation with me all night long." Xiao Ding's opening remarks were beyond everyone's expectations. "The most important point was that he talked about the foundation of the Zhao and Song Dynasties and the founding of the country.

There are some deep-seated problems in the Song and Liao Kingdoms today. One of them impressed me deeply. Do you know what the second brother is talking about?"

Zhang Yuan frowned slightly. If there was anyone who kept him unclear about the depth, it was Xiao Erlang. Even Xiao Ding in front of him, Zhang Yuan could roughly judge some of the other party's thoughts.

No one said anything.

In fact, everyone also knew that Xiao Ding did not need their answer.

Sure enough, Xiao Ding continued: "My second brother said that the Song Dynasty had been raising scholars for hundreds of years, and it was barely acceptable to the people. The foundation was very stable, so it would be difficult, very difficult to overthrow the Bianliang court through rebellion!

"

"Second Young Master's words are too biased!" Zhang Yuan glanced at the room full of civil and military officials and felt that Xiao Ding could not be allowed to enhance other people's ambitions and destroy his own prestige! "Like today's Zhao Song official family, if they use people like Cui Ang,

This shows his strength, and the removal of the King of Jing and the use of the King of Chu shows the ignorance of the officials in charge. In the battle of Hebei, the border troops were completely destroyed, and the Bianliang Forbidden Army was unable to withstand a battle. At this time, Zhao and Song were extremely weak.

.”

Everyone was suddenly enlightened and understood that some things no longer needed to be discussed.

Because when Xiao Ding opened his mouth, he didn't talk about whether to rebel at all, but directly discussed the issue of whether the war could be won or not. This already speaks volumes.

"We talked a lot that night!" Xiao Ding did not say goodbye to Zhang Yuan, but half-squinted his eyes, leaned on the chair, and said to himself: "Back then, my second brother said to me, if one day I want

If we rebelled, how could we survive the attack from the two great powers of Liao and Song?"

Having said this, even Zhang Yuan shut his mouth.

He admired Xiao Erlang's wisdom very much, and he never thought that Xiao Erlang had discussed this issue with Xiao Ding a few years ago.

"I thought it was a joke at first." Xiao Ding smiled bitterly: "I thought how could I become a traitor? Impossible! I have always been loyal to the court. I never thought that Erlang's words came true.

Ah, now I am also a rebel!"

"Zhao Song is innocent." Tuoba stood up and said, "I am a barbarian, but I have also read the books of sages. Mencius also said that the king regards his ministers as his hands and feet; his ministers regard him as his heart and soul; his ministers regard his ministers as dogs and horses.

, then the ministers will treat the king like a fellow countryman; the king will treat the ministers like earth mustard, then the ministers will regard the king like a bandit. Manager, you have never been a rebel."

Xiao Ding waved his hand, "We can think so, but the world won't think so, but it doesn't matter. If I, Xiao Dingneng, don't avenge my parents, how can I stand between heaven and earth, how can I order this

One hundred thousand tigers!"

Everyone in the room stood up with a roar. Some looked solemn, some looked excited, and some looked angry. The same thing was that everyone was extremely excited.

"I am willing to follow the manager, through fire and water, no matter what!"

Xiao Ding pressed his hands down to signal everyone to sit down.

Yes, everyone here is willing to follow him. That is because everyone has a higher pursuit until now. In the Song Dynasty, he has become the general manager of the march. It can be said that he has already left the army at a young age.

At the end of his career as a military attache, if he wants to go further, he must return to Bianliang. And for his subordinates, their way forward is about to be blocked. If he cannot make progress, they will naturally not be able to make progress either. Even if

They have made progress on their own, but their way to make progress is also very limited.

And these people have already seen the vastness of the world.

They saw the vastness of the Qingtang land and the vastness of the Western Regions. They were used to being respected and feared by others in this vast world. But as soon as they returned to the Song Dynasty, what happened to them?

Not anymore. Not to mention being wealthy and well-educated, it is difficult to even be respected.

Because they are barbarians and warriors, the few scholars present are basically the down-and-out guys who have failed in many trials.

If they rebel, their future will be limitless.

This is the most fundamental reason why they are willing to follow them and move forward bravely.

Erlang had already made this clear to himself.

Are there any truly loyal people?

Of course there are, but there are very few such people.

Precisely because there are so few, every time one appears, history will make a special note of it.
To be continued...