Going back to its roots, the Black Khanate was first established by the Uighurs who migrated westward.

A few years ago, the Western Army established the Xiping Military Division. After Zheng Jihua and Lei Jin defeated the Uighur tribe in Xizhou, they started to march westward with all their strength. However, they encountered attacks from the Black Khanate.

Compared with the chaotic Xizhou at the beginning, the Black Khanate was a more difficult opponent.

Over the years, the Black Khanate has stood across the path of the Western Army, becoming an obstacle to the caravans in the northwest region from moving forward.

When the merchants reached the Black Khanate, they could no longer move forward. They could only trade with the Black Khanate here, and then purchase goods from the West and traffic them back.

The Black Khanate, as a middleman, naturally made a lot of money, but the Western Army was naturally extremely dissatisfied.

In the past few years, everyone has been fighting and talking. The Xiping Military Division has written several times asking the Western Army to increase its troops and defeat the Black Khanate. Not to mention destroying it, at least fight them to allow the merchants in the northwest to continue to move forward.

Just fine.

However, due to the entanglement of the Central Plains incident, the General Administration did not agree after all.

Compared with commercial interests, Song and Liao were two sharp swords hanging over the head of the Western Army.

If it falls, it will be fatal.

Next came the Xizhou Uighur Rebellion.

Some tribes of Xizhou Uighurs, who had been dismantled after being controlled by the Western Army, suddenly got in touch with each other before. Among them, there was the fanning of the Liao Kingdom, but naturally there was also the blessing of the Black Khanate.

The Western Army wanted to continue moving west, so why didn't the Black Khanate want to come east?

"Is the Liao Kingdom also preparing to expand westward?" Xiao Jing said.

"It is very possible!" Xu Shen said: "The Song State was originally the biggest enemy of the Liao State, but now, the Song State is gone. Of course, a new Song State has been established in the south, but how strong is it?

It remains to be tested by time, the Liao Kingdom is preparing to find a new opponent for itself!"

"First there was a war to destroy the country with the Song Dynasty, and then there was the rebellion of the Ugu enemy Lietong, Yelvxi, Yelusheng and others in the country. The Liao Kingdom did not recover well, but instead started a war. Why is this? Go west.

, Not to mention anything else, it is difficult to deal with just a Black Khanate!" Xiao Jing was puzzled.

"How do I know what the big shots think!" Xu Shen smiled and said, "Let the manager and the chief history worry about these things."

"So, when Yelv Xian sent more troops to the border of Xizhou, some of them were let go!"

Xu Shen nodded: "That's right. The situation in the Western Region will be complicated next. We, the Liao people, Pu Gujun, and the Heihan people, hey, it's really a big game."

"I'm afraid we don't have the upper hand!"

"Yes, after all, the giant Liao Kingdom has officially joined. They are indeed stronger than us, but the Liao Kingdom is also tied to him. It is impossible to march westward with the power of the whole country. If they are just recruiting envoys from the northwest road,

We can still fight for it." Xu Shen smiled: "We have a first-mover advantage. After many years of experience in the Western Region, our achievements are here."

"So General Zheng Jihua said that since we can't devour Pugujun in one go, we can't force him too much, otherwise he will fall to the Liao people or the Black Khans, which will not be a good thing for us."

"You seem a little dissatisfied with Zheng Jihua and Lei Jin?" Xu Shen looked at Xiao Jing and asked with some surprise.

Xiao Jing looked at Xu Shen with some embarrassment and said: "I am sixteen this year and already an adult. Even in Xingqing Mansion, the manager may have me involved in affairs, but these two still treat me as a child and do these things in an attempt to conceal them. , is it an insult to my intelligence?"

After listening to Xiao Jing's narration, Xu Shen laughed: "Master, you are worrying too much. They are not trying to cover up, they just want you to know that they are behind this matter."

"What's the meaning?"

"It's very simple. Once such a thing is successfully persuaded, the credit of the initiator will be unparalleled." Xu Shen said: "Zheng and Lei made this matter so popular that there will naturally be many people who know about it. If not, other military departments, even local officials, and tribal chiefs will follow suit. For such things, you can be one step behind, but you must not fall behind step by step!"

"I'm afraid this matter won't work. My father's attitude is very firm." Xiao Jing sighed: "Zheng Jihua and Lei Jin are both at the core of the Western Army. They should know what my father wants, so why do they want to do this? "

"Sir, in fact, this is not just the attitude of Zheng Jihua and Lei Jin. I am afraid that many people in the Western Army have this intention." Xu Shen said: "If the general manager does not go further, everyone will have to stay where they are. Naturally, in my heart Not satisfied!”

"What's the meaning?"

"Young master, as a general manager of the people under your command, from the very beginning, the natural goal is to survive. Once you survive, you will naturally want to live a better life, want more territory, more people, and more wealth. When these Once he has achieved it, he wants to be famous in history and have a lasting fragrance through the ages, so this person's desire will never be satisfied."

"That's true!" Xiao Jing laughed: "What the teacher is thinking about most is that he wants to be remembered in history and be remembered forever. Although he doesn't say it clearly, sometimes you can still understand the meaning behind his words."

"So, if Zhang Changshi is just a long history, can he be remembered in history?" Xu Shen asked.

Xiao Jing said: "So, actually everyone wants to be promoted, but since my father is still the general manager, no one can be promoted."

Xu Shen nodded: "That's right. Take Zheng Jihua as an example. He is the general of Xiping Military Division and has tens of thousands of soldiers under his command. Even if Xizhou has not many people, there are hundreds of thousands in total, and the area is even larger. Now, a proper feudal official can guard a place. If it were the Song Dynasty in the past, who would be needed to guard such a place? It would take a pacification envoy or a system envoy at the level of the prime minister. But Zheng Jihua's official position is just a mere commander-in-chief. make."

At this point, Xu Shen nodded to Yang Fugui and said: "Our General Yang is the commander, commanding five hundred people, and Zheng Jihua is the capital commander, two levels higher than him."

"The Seventh Battalion is different!" Yang Fugui said, frowning.

Xu Shen ignored him, "Zheng Jihua is like this, Lei Jin is like this, and so are the officers below. It is common for a general to command thousands of people."

"But in terms of salary and money, the General Manager's Office has never treated them badly!"

"Are they still short of money?" Xu Shen asked.

Xiao Jing fell silent immediately, and then said after a while: "Uncle Xu, having said this, I have something to discuss with you. After arriving in Gaochang, my subordinates still received some submissions. These matters are related to General Zheng, Lei It’s about the general.”

"Are you talking about their corruption problem?" Xu Shen asked looking very relaxed.

Xiao Jing nodded: "I saw the mansions of the two generals. They were extremely luxurious, and the things used in the mansions were all extremely exquisite and luxurious. Compared to the General Manager's Mansion, they were far beyond that.

I'm afraid what those people wrote is true. I've been hesitating about what to do about this matter."

"The General Manager's Office knows all these things!" Xu Shen said: "But these two have not touched the bottom line of the General Manager's Office. Their huge wealth comes from several sources. One is to organize their own caravans to go west.

Merchants who conflict with their caravan's goods have only two choices, either give them the goods at a fair price, or die."

"Doesn't this matter?" Xiao Jing's eyes widened.

"Why should we care?" Xu Shen chuckled: "At least they gave them a choice and did not let those people lose money. Some ordinary businessmen and two generals with heavy troops, it is clear at a glance which one is more important."

"What about them taking advantage of free money?"

"The Xiping Military Division is considered a standing army, with regiment training and local rebel armies. There are tens of thousands of troops in total, and there are thousands of local officials, but they only eat up the vacancies of a thousand people."

"But this has violated the laws of the Western Army." Xiao Jing said angrily.

"If they touch the red line of the Western Army, they will naturally take it away without hesitation, but these matters alone are of no concern to officials of their rank. It is best for the young master not to mention it in front of them.

There is no need to even hint at these things," Xu Shen said.

"I know!" Xiao Jing was a little annoyed.

"Young master, you have visited many places along the way. You should be able to see that Zheng Jihua Leide is very attentive to official matters. This place in Xizhou is not Xingqing Prefecture, Xingping Prefecture, it is almost

This is a place where hair and blood drink, tribes are scattered, and there are many descendants. If you are not careful, you will step into a mud pit. The two of them can do this, they are already capable officials." Xu Shen smiled and said: "The Western Army always pays attention to personnel.

talent."

"Don't you value virtue?"

"We naturally want to have both ability and political integrity. But how many such people are there in the world? If you want to ask for everything, you will get nothing in the end. For us at this stage, having the most important thing is light.

For people who are virtuous but have no talent, we can hold them up high for people to admire, but we will never let them do things, because these people are very likely to do bad things."

"With talent but no virtue, will it be possible for him to accomplish anything and not do bad things?"

"Such people should be carefully restrained." Xu Shen said seriously, "Just make them feel fearful."

"Like Lei and Zheng? They bully male overlords and do everything from taking away people's property." Xiao Jing said dissatisfied: "This is too annoying."

"There are many unsatisfactory and unavoidable choices in life!" Xu Shen sighed: "Sir, if we really follow the law, I am afraid that all of us in the Jing'an Department will be completely wiped out and not a single one will be left."

"How do you say this?"

Xu Shen looked at Xiao Jing. This young master was protected so well. Maybe it was because the manager and the chief minister felt that at his age, he didn't need to be exposed to too many dark things, right?

"Let me tell you a story! It just happened not long ago. One of our spies lurking within the Liao army was accidentally caught. This person has a high status and knows about a dozen of our spies lurking in the Liao country.

If he does it, our losses will be too great."

"Everyone who comes out of Jing'an Division is made of steel!" Xiao Jing said.

Xu Shen shook his head: "If it falls into the hands of the enemy, even fine steel can turn into soft tissue. Therefore, once people in our profession are discovered, they will basically kill themselves immediately, but this person didn't have time.

He was caught when he committed suicide and was tortured for more than ten days to extract a confession."

"He did it?"

"No, it's just that it's only a matter of time, so we activated another sleeper to kill him."

"After this sleeper completed this task, he escaped back." Xu Shen said: "Crying loudly in front of me, because he knew the captured spy. It's just that he didn't understand that each other was ours.

He was just a spy. He said to the spy that the one who sent him away was his companion, so please don't bear any grudge against him."

Xiao Jing fell silent.

"In the last war, in order to fight Xiao Siwen of the Thunder Village with all our strength, we gave up the thousands of defenders and tens of thousands of civilians in the East and West Shoujiang City. This was also a last resort. So, Master, you have to slowly understand this world and this era.

You have to accept all the good and bad without escaping, because you are not an ordinary person, and you are destined to lead everyone forward." Xu Shen said.

"Thank you Uncle Xu for your teaching!" Xiao Jing stood up and saluted with his hands in hand.

Xu Shen stepped aside and said with a smile: "Ordinary people can be weak, but you can't. Master, I think it's time for Zheng Jihua and Lei Jin to come?"

"Huh?" Xiao Jing didn't react for a moment, and he finally realized after humming: "Uncle Xu said that the two of them sent people to monitor me?"

"It's not surveillance, because it's a peripheral guard. I've been here for a long time. If they haven't figured out who the person is, how could they easily enter the gate of the 7th Battalion? Then these two are really a little bit weird.

I will be the general of the Xiping Army!"

As soon as Xu Shen finished speaking, soldiers outside announced that Zheng Jihua, Leijin and the others were coming to visit.
To be continued...