"I am grateful for your kindness and goodwill, and I will embrace you for many months." [Pei County official left to say goodbye to Yang Jian'an's cousin]
The first year of Jian'an in the Han Dynasty, mid-May.
Yongzhou, Longxi County.
Outside the city of Panhan County, Han Sui, the governor of Liangzhou, rode along the big tent. His eyes swept over the bonfires, fences, and flags in the tent, and he briefly paused at each place with his calm and deep expression.
His gaze is like a dragonfly jumping over the pond after a dusk rain, or like a wolf king leisurely patrolling his territory after a full meal.
After spending half his life in the army, Han Sui gained too much and lost too much. Although he now has Jincheng, Jiuquan and other counties, and his reputation among Qiang and Di spreads all over Yongliang. But he knows in his heart that these things are not important, only what is in front of him
These 40,000 to 50,000 Qiang soldiers were all he had in hand.
Every time after dinner, Han Sui would ride his beloved Liangzhou horse for a walk. Sometimes it would take an hour or two before he came back. No one knew where he went, maybe he went to a remote corner somewhere.
Pretending to be ordinary officers and chatting with the soldiers, they scolded a certain general in the army for his bad temper, and beat and scolded the soldiers whenever they disagreed; perhaps they were staying in the baggage camp to count the grain and grass to see how many piles of wheat and grain had fallen due to moisture.
Gray; perhaps he walked out of the camp at night and looked at the low town of Pouhan County on the nearby slope.
Cheng Gongying would occasionally follow Han Sui with fully armed men, just like today, although in Han Sui's view, such security measures were completely unnecessary.
"Song Jian and I had an oath not to harm me." Han Sui smiled reassuringly, turned to look at Cheng Gongying, and inadvertently glanced at a young general who was following Cheng Gongying. That man was young.
He is young, has thick eyebrows and big eyes, and has a very imposing appearance. He is not tall, but he is strong and strong. Compared with those big guys who look like bears, he is more suitable for galloping on horseback.
Han Sui's eyes lingered on the young general for a moment, and he spoke affectionately about his family affairs: "Yan Ming, are your parents still in good health?"
The young general who was called 'Yan Ming' took a step forward on his horse and answered meticulously: "I am worried about you because of my hard work. The general's parents are in good health, my mother is not stopping sericulture, and I even often go hunting with others on horseback."
"Sure enough, father and son have the same inheritance. You have not lived up to my reputation as a brave man in Liangzhou, and you can be regarded as a strong man even if you are my father!" Han Sui was overjoyed. He asked the other party to come closer and praised him without hesitation: "When we get back to Jincheng,
I must meet this 'Old Lianpo' personally!"
"Thank you for the promotion!" The young general was a native of Jincheng, named Yan Xing, also named Yanming. With his outstanding appearance and martial arts, he became famous in Jincheng County. Later, he was promoted and re-employed by his fellow countryman Han Sui and was brought to his side as a full-time officer.
Compose a song.
Han Sui has been famous for a long time. He has great prestige in Liangzhou, especially in Jincheng, and he has a good way to win people's hearts. Yan Xing is still young and has no experience in the world, so he was quickly impressed by him and became Han Sui's focus.
After hearing Han Sui's deliberate words of kindness, Yan Xing was even more grateful and thanked him again and again.
Cheng Gongying witnessed all this, and after Han Sui used a few good words to manipulate Yan Xing into submission, he continued what he had said at the beginning and said: "My lord, the situation in Yizhou has been decided, and we should have a clue here. If it happens again.
If you drag it on, the court will ask questions... It will be difficult for me to deal with it."
According to the information from the Di people in Wudu, Yizhou herdsman Liu Yan died of illness just before the army entered the pass. The Yizhou powerful, who had been suppressed by Liu Yan for three years, temporarily took control of the situation. Within a few days, as Zhang Lu gave up resistance,
Zhao Wei was killed by his generals, and the entire Yizhou surrendered. Now the army has triumphantly marched north, but in addition to the imperial court's northern and southern armies returning to Guanzhong with Pei Mao, there are still 20,000 to 30,000 people recruited from Yizhou and stationed there.
Wudu echoes Zhang Ji and Yang Ru in Hanyang County.
Facing the military pressure from the south and southeast, as well as the political pressure from the imperial court to push for an attack on Song Jian, Han Sui seemed not to care and turned a blind eye. These days, he was still riding his brown Liangzhou horse around the camp.
Walking around in circles after meals, often alone, leisurely and silent.
This kind of silence is not the hesitation of indecisiveness, but the calm before brewing a major decision.
"Lord, it's time to make a decision!" Cheng Gongying urged again. After following Han Sui for so many years, he knew what Han Sui was thinking. He had always wanted to tell Han Sui in front of Yan Xing and other close associates.
Understand the problem.
Yan Xing also looked at Han Sui with a complicated expression.
The current situation really did not allow Han Sui to continue to oppose the imperial court. In order to wait and see the situation of the Southern Expedition, he deliberately delayed after accepting the imperial edict. It took him a month or two to 'solve' the problems of food, grass, soldiers, ordnance, etc.
He surrounded the small city of Wuhan, and then spent more than ten days "attacking and defending" with Song Jian. Now in order to ease the relationship with the imperial court, Han Sui had to defeat Wuhan as soon as possible and use his power to "pacify the king of Han"
'Song Jian's head was used as a certificate of surrender.
But in Han Sui's eyes, this matter was unexpectedly difficult to handle. When Song Jian rebelled with the kingdom, he was still older than Han Sui. He had made a bet with Han Sui and Ma Teng, and swore he would never
Chu Fanghan was willing to be a local overlord. Over the years, Song Jian never broke his promise, and Han Sui was often close to him because he wanted to contact the Qiang and Di and unite forces. The two were considered mentors and friends.
If Han Sui was unwilling to kill Song Jian himself, it was because he was worried about Song Jian's reputation among the Qiang and Di tribes in Yongliang and was afraid that his "righteous" reputation among the Qiang and Hu tribes would be wiped out in one day. Yan Xing also felt that
normal.
But Han Sui insisted on saying that he was worried about his friendship with Song Jian and was reluctant to kill him. Although Yan Xing admired chivalry, he felt that it was against Han Sui to put this on him.
"Song Jian is my old friend!" Han Sui seemed not to have noticed the probing glances of Yan Xing and others, and muttered again, but this time his tone was not as sincere as before: "Look at the whole situation.
In Yongliang, who can be like him, who is willing to stop fighting for more than ten years just because of a mere vow, and still be willing to live in a remote place without even taking a single step?"
Han Sui pinched the horse's belly, and the horse began to trot. The cold wind blew the long mane on the horse's neck and stirred it like waves. The horse's eyes were the same as those of its owner. Under the kind and approachable appearance, there was a hidden secret.
An icy glance.
Yan Xing was familiar with Han Sui's habits, so he reined in his horse and led his men behind him, not daring to follow him any further.
Only Cheng Gongying followed him like a shadow.
"In these troubled times, there is no place for the word 'faithfulness'. Even if there is, it must be for 'profit' in the end." Cheng Gongying was still looking ahead. At this time, he had already galvanized his horse to approach Han Sui's side.
Suddenly, Yan Xing and others were left far behind. This was the edge of the camp. He said in a very light voice: "My lord, you should understand this better than me."