In Liangzhou, Murong Nobunaga had just returned home when he saw someone he was very familiar with.
Although the iconic long beard on his cheeks has disappeared, his habit of slightly squinting his eyes and his burly figure are still so conspicuous.
This person was clearly the military general who looked like Mr. Guan when Zhang Zhao entered Guanzhong to quell the chaos and was standing behind Zhao Kuangzan, then the military governor of Huazhou Town.
Princess Yongle put down a cup of tea and walked out without giving Murong Nobunaga any good looks.
Ever since Murong Nobunaga brought back a pair of sisters from Pu Guluo, the governor of Gaochang Tingzhou, Princess Yongle had been having a bad temper with Murong Nobunaga for several months.
However, this is actually just Princess Yongle's trick.
For a head wife of her status, there is no need to express her dissatisfaction in this way and scare her husband, then the family will be lively in the future.
Moreover, whether she can allow her husband's concubines to enter the house is the most important right of the head wife and must be maintained.
However, Princess Yongle still knows the importance. Some things can be tempered, but some things must be treated with caution.
For example, now is the time when you can't be a little angry.
Because Zhang Zhaoming relied on Zhang Liecheng's Jinyi envoys to collect intelligence from all parties.
But in terms of information about Shi Chonggui and the movements of the later Jin Dynasty, the most reliable source Zhang Zhao relied on was Princess Yongle.
Because Shi Jingtang’s wife, Queen Mother Li, was the third sister of Princess Yongle.
Li Siyuan, Emperor Mingzong of the Later Tang Dynasty, gave birth to as many as fifteen daughters. Twelve of them grew up, and each of them married into a powerful family in the Central Plains.
Relying on this line, Murong Nobunaga and Princess Yongle established the most reliable intelligence network for Zhang Zhao.
Shi Chonggui's nominal mother, Empress Dowager Li, personally conveyed information about Shi Chonggui and the later Jin court to Zhang Zhao. Nothing could be more accurate than this.
"Servant Zhao Xian, pay homage to Fifteenth Alang!"
The mother of Zhao Kuangzan, who was assisted by Zhao Xian, was Li Siyuan's thirteenth daughter, Princess Yan, while Murong Nobunaga married the fifteenth daughter, Princess Yongle.
At this time, there was a custom of calling the uncle Alang, so Zhao Kuangzan and the people around him always called Murong Nobunaga the fifteenth Alang.
"The Immortal is an elder, so don't be too polite. How is my beautiful brother doing in Liao? Hearing that the thirteenth sister died of illness in Youzhou, I don't know how sad he must be."
Zhao Kuangzan's nickname is Zhao Mei, and Murong Nobunaga is his fifteenth uncle, so he can be called Mei Geer.
Zhao Xian is almost fifty years old, and he has been a loyal servant who has been taking care of Zhao Kuangzan since Zhao Dejun, Zhao Yanshou and his son left for Khitan.
His status is similar to that of the old Zhang Zhong beside Zhang Zhao, and he cannot be treated as a servant.
"Dalangjun is fine, he just misses him day and night and wants to come back to the Central Plains. Alas!"
Speaking of this, Immortal Zhao let out a long sigh and said, "My lord is so obsessed that he actually regards the Khitan Master as his father-in-law. The Dalang Lord has nothing to do, so he sends his servant to Fifteen Alang to ask for advice."
Hearing what Zhao Xian said, Murong Nobunaga also felt angry in his eyes.
Because as early as last year, as his brother-in-law, he wrote to Zhao Kuangzan's father, Zhao Yanshou, hoping that he would return from his lost ways and turn from darkness to light.
As a result, Zhao Yanshou didn't even reply to the letter, and continued to follow the Khitan people southward.
After his anger subsided, Murong Nobunaga immediately understood that it must be unusual for Zhao Kuangzan to send Zhao Xian all the way to Hexi.
Because from Zhao Xian's unceremonious remarks about Zhao Yanshou being obsessed with ghosts, it can be seen that there must have been a split between the Zhao family in Youzhou and the former Lulong Army generals.
"Isn't the Immortal here to meet the King of Heaven?" Murong Nobunaga simply went to Zhang Zhao without asking what the matter was.
"Just when I was about to meet the King of Heaven, Dalangjun often told his servants that the King of Heaven is the only real master in the world.
I, the 400th-ranked son of the Lulong Army of the Zhao family, do not want to be the slaves of the Khitans, so I would like to ask the 15th Alang to help me with a few words of kindness, and beg the King of Heaven to take me in."
Zhao Xian is still a good person. Murong Nobunaga didn't ask him what he was doing here. He was reasonable and sensible, but he couldn't hold back.
Murong Nobunaga nodded with satisfaction. Zhao Kuangzan was a good son-in-law. He broke with his father for the sake of justice and was able to bring hundreds of people back from Khitan. He was obviously capable and ambitious.
"Then please invite the Immortal to bathe and change clothes in the mansion, and I will inform the King of Heaven right away."
....
Just when Murong Nobunaga went to meet Zhang Zhao, Hu Qilang and about 20 people had already arrived at Jingzhou in the Later Jin Dynasty and were about to enter the original Weizhou.
Now the Zhangyi Army Jiedushi of the Later Jin Dynasty has moved the office to Ningzhou, which is far away from Weizhou, because Weizhou has actually been controlled by the Liang Kingdom.
Wu Guo'er, the brother of Wu Ying'er, the governor of Weizhou, served as the capital commander in Yingyang Town of Liang State. King Zhang Tian of Liang State even had tens of thousands of acres of fertile land in Weizhou.
The generals of the Zhangyi Army who guarded Weizhou were said to be soldiers of the imperial court, but in fact, they were secretly receiving the same salary as the Liangguo Zhenjun, so how could they listen to the orders of the later Jin Dynasty.
After Hu Qilang and others received the secret support of the brocade messenger in Shaanzhou, they still pretended to be merchants selling brocade silk to Hexi.
After all, they left the team and returned to Hexi privately, and brought a large amount of property with them. At this time, thieves were everywhere in the Later Jin Dynasty, but it was not safe at all.
There are many generals who are directly robbers. You can dress up as merchants and set off with the merchants. It will be safer if there are more people.
After passing Shaanzhou, in addition to the more than 100 merchants including Hu Qilang and others, there were also a large number of disaster victims who followed the merchants to Liang Kingdom.
Most of them were in tattered clothes and unkempt faces, and they often stayed in families, with the men outside and the women and children surrounded in the middle.
But except for those who are really strong, there are almost no old people.
As Torishichiro who grew up in Anxi, he still didn't know much about it, so he found out after asking.
After suffering such a horrific disaster and before fleeing, older people will choose to end their lives or stay at home to leave the chance of survival to their children and grandchildren.
Because they eat less, their descendants will have more food to survive.
Moreover, the reason why these disaster victims followed the merchant team is also very simple: because of safety.
Moreover, merchants sometimes need help from others, such as washing mules and horses, helping with cooking, etc. They can mix in some food to survive.
"Qilangjun, Qilangjun, someone blocked the road ahead and took Cui San and the others away."
Just as Torishichiro was about to take a few bites of dry biscuits, a caravan boy ran over, rolling and crawling.
Cui San was not one of the twenty or so people like Toro Shichiro, but a disaster victim. He could recognize a few words and sometimes helped the caravan with writing and arithmetic.
His wife is a good cook and is cooking for the caravan.
Compared with the victims who had no meal outside, Cui San's family was much better off.
"Where did this person come from? So arrogant? Someone who dares to capture the King of Heaven?"
There is a special phenomenon in Guanzhong now. All the victims who go to Hexi to face the disaster are called the kings of heaven.
Although the generals in Guanzhong dared to embezzle the money and food allocated by Mo Zhang Zhao, no one dared to blatantly stop the victims from going to Hexi.
"I don't know, but it doesn't look like the Ya soldiers from Pizhou. There were a few officials there, and although they arrested people, they didn't beat or scold them."
The guy shook his head, he didn't know how to describe those people.
Hu Qilang quickly mounted his horse and followed the caravan to the place where Cui San was robbed.
Although he had a broken wrist, he was kind-hearted and fair, and he quickly gained prestige among the caravans. Everyone was happy to come to him to solve any problem they encountered.
When Torishichiro arrived, he realized where the strange feeling of caravan work came from.
Because this scene of robbing people was completely different from what he imagined.
It's not like a group of people are so vicious. The victims were so frightened that they fled in all directions.
Instead, dozens of men with bows and guns on their backs blocked the outside of Pizhou City, checking their identities one by one, and then kept the people they liked directly.
The leader of these people was a man wearing a cotton robe. As soon as Tora Shichiro saw this man, he knew that he must have something to do with Liang Guo.
Cotton robes are something that ordinary people can't get at all now, because the Liang Kingdom still controls cotton to a certain extent, and most of the cotton is made into cotton armor.
Behind the leader, there stood a huge stone tablet with words engraved on it.
Torishichiro knew what the stone tablet was for.
Seven years ago, he followed the King of Heaven into Guanzhong to quell the rebellion. At that time, Jingzhou was massacred by the rebels.
The King of Heaven sent more than a hundred soldiers to collect the corpses in the city, totaling more than 7,000 corpses. They were all burned and then buried.
Thirteen of the more than a hundred soldiers contracted the epidemic and died here, and a monument was erected to commemorate this.
Thinking of this, Toro Shichiro slowly walked over, his intact left hand already holding the handle of the knife.
This Pizhou was saved by the benevolence of the Heavenly King. The land deeds of the people of Pizhou were also issued by the Heavenly King. Their good life was given by the Heavenly King. Now they dare to ruin the reputation of the Heavenly King. They must not ignore it.
However, when Toro Shichiro came closer, he saw that although Cui San had a sad face, he was not arrested. Instead, he was sitting on a table, writing and drawing.
The people on the opposite side also noticed the unusual aura on Toro Shichiro's body, and immediately gathered around him vigilantly. The victims of the disaster and the people watching the excitement around him were so frightened that they backed away one after another.
"Wuna man, who are you...
Huh? Isn't this Shichiro-kun? Why are you here? Ah! What happened to my brother's hand? Who hurt you?"
The leading man came over with an unruly look and was about to interrogate him, but halfway through his words, he immediately recognized Toshichiro and was extremely happy.
After seeing Toshichiro's right hand missing all the way to his wrist, he immediately became extremely angry.
Hu Qilang was stunned for a moment, and then he slowly recognized who this guy with a sinister face was. He was a refugee from Pizhou, nicknamed Hua Luzi.
Hua Luzi once worked with the famous doctors Zhao Jinfang and Han Qi, who followed the King of Heaven to Hexi, and learned some medical skills.
His archery and horse riding skills were taught to him by Toro Shichiro at that time, and Toro Shichiro can be regarded as half of Hua Donkey's master.
Later, the King of Heaven led his army to leave Guanzhong, but Hua Luzi refused to leave her homeland, so the King of Heaven rewarded him with a hundred acres of land and stayed in Pizhou.
Unexpectedly, now I can wear cotton robes, look like a human being and become an official.
"What are you doing here? I heard you are robbing the victims? You are so courageous!"
Torishichiro has not let down his guard at all. Seven years have passed since the incident, and people's hearts are far apart. Who knows if this frivolous donkey has changed?
"Hey, my brother!" Hua Luzi jumped up. He quickly ran over, took Toro Shichiro's hand and walked to the edge.
"Brother, don't dare to say nonsense. If people really think that I dare to intercept the victims, it will be an injustice."
Hu Qilang looked at Hua Donzi as if he was being fake, his eyes became a little kinder, he pointed at Cui San and said.
"That person came here from Shaanzhou with me, and his family is a disaster victim in Hexi. You still say you robbed him?"
"So that's what happened! Brother, you misunderstood." Hua Luzi was relieved immediately.
"Brother, please don't look at me as a gorgeous donkey now with five people and six people, but we know who brought a certain person from a homeless person to his current position.
All this was given by the King of Heaven. Without the King of Heaven’s order, how could I dare to intercept the victims privately?”
"It turns out that the King of Heaven wanted to keep some of the victims in Pizhou."
Hu Qilang took a long breath. It seemed that the people of Pizhou still listened to the king and knew who saved their lives and gave them their land.
So it is reasonable for the King of Heaven to ask some victims to stay in Pizhou.
Hua Luzi licked her lips, hesitated, moved closer to Toro Shichiro, shook her head and whispered.
"So that my brother will know that a certain person has just received an order from the deputy ambassador of Yongbiandao. Everyone in the Jin and Wei states immediately began to organize athletes to unite.
And leave the literate people among the victims where they are. The Liangzhou Tiangong Institute will come and teach them arithmetic and even more... uh, yes! Training. At the same time, we also ask us to summarize the civil and military conditions in Guanzhong."
Toro Shichiro was stunned for a moment, and then his eyes began to light up.
There is only one reason why the gorgeous donkey in Guanzhong can receive such an order, and that is because the King of Heaven wants to take action and prepare to enter Guanzhong.