"A cunning rabbit has three burrows, and it can only avoid its dead ears." [Warring States Policy·Qi Ce IV]
Early the next morning, Han Sui's generals Jiang Shi, Yang Kui, Qu Yan, Yan Xing and others led their troops to raid the city of Wuhan. Since the past ten months, everything has been peaceful inside and outside the city, and not a single battle has been fought.
However, after discovering that Han Sui was not hostile, the people in the city gradually returned to normal life, and some boldly ran out of the city to cut firewood, hunt, and even do small business with Han Sui's army.
Even Song Jian, the "King of Han at the River Head" in the city, after receiving the report from Han Sui, directly confirmed to his "prime ministers" and "generals" that Han Sui was just casually attending to the court's errands.
, and after a few days, he lied that he could not fight for a long time, and then went back to wherever he should go. Anyway, Yongliang was the sphere of influence of Han Sui and Song Jian, and even if the court had a good eye, it would not be able to find out the true situation here.
Everyone in the city of Panhan, from the emperor and his ministers to the common people, blindly believed that this war was just a bluff, and that the murderous people and the capture of the city would never happen to them.
As a result, all the Qiang and Han nobles in Panhan City thought it was another ordinary early morning. The "friendly army" who came to visit outside the city suddenly tore off the mask of gentleness and kindness in the past, and the jackals took off their lambs.
It was wearing fur, showing its fangs and sharp teeth, and it was howling as it climbed up the ladder to the low city wall.
Song Jian and the city defenders did not expect such a result at all. In a hurry, Jiang Shi, Yan Xing and others quickly rushed into the city. The Qiang soldiers, who had been suppressed by Han Sui for a long time, were in Fufu.
The greedy nature of the city, which had been stable for many years, was completely exposed. They burned, killed and looted everywhere in the city. Song Jian was on the "imperial couch" at the time. When he heard that Han Sui had sent troops into the city, he was so frightened that he rolled to the ground.
He didn't bother to jump and curse, he hurriedly grabbed a few belongings, wrapped himself in a piece of clothing and ran to the stable.
Song Jian spent a lot of time packing up his belongings, but at this time he heard from his confidants that Han Sui's army was still looting in the city, and no one had come to kill the 'royal palace'. This made Song Jian couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, and he didn't care.
I was wondering how Han Sui, who was so good at calculations, didn't even understand the principle of "capturing the thief and capturing the king", so he just ran to the south gate along the same unoccupied street, escorted by a group of Qiang Yi Cong.
go out.
"They ran to the south gate!" Jiang Shi, who was short and stout, was riding on a tall horse, slashing and killing the enemy soldiers running around in the street. His whole body was covered with blood. This was a battle with almost no resistance.
In the battle with the wind, Jiang Shi fought freely and freely, and gradually forgot the entrustment he had received before sending troops.
Jiang Shi raised his whip and pointed at the shadows of Song Jian and others at the south gate, and shouted loudly to the left and right: "Chase them all! Give me his head!"
Everyone agreed in a loud voice and were about to raise their swords to pursue him. When another general who looked like a lieutenant saw this, he quickly reached out and grabbed Jiang Shi's arm and shouted: "No! The commander has already issued a military order, saying that he must be let go."
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Jiang Shi looked back and saw a similarly short and lean man. His sallow face was pressed tightly against his high cheekbones. He had short beards on his upper and lower lips, making him look smart and capable. Jiang Shi was stunned for a moment and quickly recognized
Seeing the person in front of him, he said angrily: "Qu Yan! Why are you stopping me?"
He and Qu Yan were old acquaintances in the military. They often helped each other and had a close relationship. Qu Yan stopped him this time for his own sake. He didn't want to see him suffer for disobeying Han Sui's military orders. Thinking of this, Jiang Shi's face softened slightly.
He pulled Qu Yan closer and said in Qu Yan's ear: "Have you never seen the imperial edict? It says that Song Jian's head is not only worth a thousand pieces of gold, but will also be rewarded with a marquis title!"
Of course Qu Yan had heard of the imperial edict, but he believed that Han Sui treated him well. It was a general's job to obey military orders. He was a little uncomfortable with Jiang Shi knowingly doing so at first.
Qu Yan frowned and opened his mouth to speak, but was hurriedly interrupted by Jiang Shi: "You said that Han Sui, an old man, has been fighting for half his life, and in the end he was only the governor of Liangzhou. Compared with the imperial court,
What else can he give us? You are from the Qu family in Xiping, and your family background is better than mine. Without Han Sui, you can still organize your affairs and become a powerful man in the world. Even the governor dare not mess with you! But I can't," Jiang Shi looked at it seriously.
Looking at the old brother in front of him, he said word by word: "I don't have much way to go."
Jiang Shi made up his mind to violate Han Sui's military orders and intercept and kill Song Jian privately. He had already found out that Zhang Ji, who represented the imperial court, was not far to the south at this time. As long as he killed Song Jian, he would not return to the capital.
camp, and went directly to the south to go to Zhang Ji. He took the head appointed by the imperial court, and he was a general who took the initiative to abandon the dark side and surrender to the bright side. The imperial court would never treat him badly, and the benefits he would receive from him would definitely be more than those given by Han Sui.
The two looked at each other for a moment, and Qu Yan finally let go of his hand, letting Jiang Shi run like a wild horse, leading a group of people to rush towards the south gate, towards another wealthy future he had chosen for himself.
Not long after Jiang Shicai left, Yan Xing, who was supervising the formation in the rear and receiving the treasury under Han Sui's military order, arrived late. He looked at the background of Jiang Shi's pursuit and then looked at Qu Yan, who was standing indifferently by the roadside, and couldn't help but be surprised.
He said: "Has he forgotten your envoy's instructions? Song Jian has always had prestige. If we kill him, what will the Qiang people in Longxi think of us? How will we gain a foothold in the future?"
Yan Xing and Qu Yan are both powerful families in Jincheng County. However, because the Qu family is the descendant of the "criminal minister" who was demoted by Wang Mang two hundred years ago, their power has never been as powerful as that of the Yan family, which is rooted in Liangzhou.
Although the imperial court has now designated a part of Jincheng County as Xihai County, and the Xiping Qu family is therefore considered to be from Xihai County, the discord between the two families still exists.
Naturally, Qu Yan didn't have a good impression of Yan Xing, who became famous at a young age. He sneered, glanced at Yan Xing, then turned his horse's head and prepared to go back. But when he passed by Yan Xing, he reminded him coldly: "
He is the one who disobeys military orders. You should go to him and tell him this. If you want to catch up, it's still too late."
Yan Xing was so angry that he couldn't get angry in person at the moment, so he had to calm down and shout angrily, and then galloped away from Qu Yan. He swung his whip in front of Qu Yan fiercely, and whipped out a fierce wind,
He violently scratched the red tassel on the Qu Yan helmet.
Qu Yan ignored the news and looked at Yan Xing's departure direction for a long time. He knew that deliberately letting Jiang Shi go would definitely arouse Han Sui's hatred, but he was not afraid. First, he was confident in the power of the Qu family in Xiping.
Han Sui was fearful enough, and secondly, he was confident in Jiang Shi. It seemed that he was taking the initiative to give Jiang Shi a way out as a friend this time, but in fact, he was also planning for himself?