Since reaching its peak a few days ago, the wind and sand have become smaller and smaller.
In an abandoned camp outside Huairong County, Guizhou, a large group of defeated soldiers took the water and ate hungrily.
After some people finished eating, they left with great gratitude. The defenders did not stop them and acted as if they had not seen them.
Guizhou is not as large as Hedong. It does not have that many people and fields, and its products are not rich. These passers-by are all Khitan people, and a temporary supply of food is enough. There is no capital to keep them as soldiers. Even if they don't need money or silk, they only need
They can't afford to be in charge of food. Besides, just over the mountain is the territory of the Khitan people, and it is impossible for these people to stay.
"Eat slowly, don't be in a hurry." A gray-haired officer came over and handed out dry rations to each person, saying, "In the past, we were fighting life and death, what about now?"
Most of the Khitan people couldn't understand what he was saying and didn't care. They just lowered their heads and concentrated on eating. The Khitan soldiers from Bohai could understand a little bit. After all, the local popular "Haner language" itself is based on Yingzhou Mandarin.
.The Xi people who have more interactions with the Han people may be able to understand it, but they have a lower status and dare not speak.
The place was quiet for a while, except for the sound of chewing.
Outside the camp, Kunfa Jin soldiers stood with guns in hand and looked at them with unfriendly eyes.
Just look at the hair ornaments and you will know that these Jin soldiers are all Khitan soldiers from the former Youzhou Town. Serving as soldiers for the emperor of the Central Plains or the commander-in-chief of the feudal town is actually a good job for the hard-working Tibetan people.
The rewards for sergeants in Youzhou Town may not be as generous as those in places like Weibo, Chengde, and Cangjing, but they are there after all. The most important thing is that not only can you have enough to eat, but your family can also have enough to eat, which is much better than herding.
Already.
"Did you gain from this attack? Did you lose?" The old officer didn't care whether the Khitans could understand or not. He distributed dry food and said at the same time: "We have given birth to a lamb at home. Can women and children alone be able to handle it?"
I have to graze, milk, and take care of the horses. It’s a hell of a day.”
Someone understood and couldn't help but ask in Chinese: "Old man, what do you mean by saying that?"
"What do you mean? Good intentions." The old man snorted coldly and said, "I have lived for forty-eight years, from Xuanzong to the present day, and I have seen too many stupid things. In the past ten years, you have been tossing around behind the mountains. Apart from occupying the pasture, what have you gained?
Have you? There are a lot of casualties, but not much property has been robbed in Dingkou. But they keep robbing every year and losing money every year. I don’t understand why you are so energetic in this kind of loss year after year?
So tolerant and obedient?"
The Khitan people stopped talking.
Even if we are losing money, we have to listen to the orders of the Khan and the nobles. Besides, we are not losing much. We can just run away if we can't fight. As long as we can survive, what does it matter if we lose some cattle and sheep? Besides, after we get the pasture, we can raise more
Cattle and sheep, the tribal population will be greatly multiplied. Isn’t this all a benefit?
The old man sneered twice again and said: "Have you hit the wall this year? I heard a Khitan nobleman passing by said that people in southern Liaoning have paid for it. It will snow heavily in western Liaoning and the Xia people will have no way to cure you, but what about next year?"
There were sighs in twos and threes in the camp.
Everyone is poor, vulgar, and ignorant, but they are not fools. The threat of the Liaonan Xia people is already quite obvious. This year they just gave them a blow. Wait until next year, who knows what it will be like.
This Western Expedition may be the last one. In fact, it's okay, don't get involved in outside affairs. Next year, it's more serious to fight with the Xia people to save their own pasture.
"What's the use of just talking about us?" A Khitan nobleman with a pair of armor beside him said: "Aren't you Jin people beaten like a lost dog? I think even if the Xia people use troops, they will attack you first."
"Haha." The old man smiled and said: "When I was studying when I was young, I knew that the situation in the world was so turbulent that sooner or later it would not be able to survive. The court and the feudal town seemed to be in peace, but if something went wrong, it would be The world is turned upside down. It doesn't matter where the Xia people attack first. It's just that they die early and die later. There is not much difference."
The Khitan nobleman was silent. After holding it in for a long time, he blushed and said, "I didn't expect you to have read a book."
The old man slowed down his hands, as if he was reminiscing about the high-spirited years of his youth. After a long time, he said: "I think back then, I, Lu Shiyilang, was also a well-known scholar. I didn't expect that when I was nearly fifty years old, I would become a master of reading."
Got the knife. This is the way of the world."
The Khitan nobleman finished the dry food in three or two mouthfuls, looked at the old man, and said, "What's wrong with using a knife? It would be easier if all the southern barbarians were scholars."
The old man sneered, and instead of arguing with him, he asked: "Looking at you, you have some wealth. Which department do you belong to? Maybe I even went on a expedition with the army."
"From the Sudden Division." The Khitan nobleman suddenly felt a little depressed, and he didn't know why.
"That's terrible." The old man laughed and said: "In the past few days, there have been many sudden and sudden attacks, including the Wu Kui and the Second Division, and the Tu Lubu and Pinbu. Don't you want to deal with the assassination department? The losses are so great this time. Let's wait for the Yelv clan to concoct us after we return.
"You old man, you are quite familiar with the Eight Tribes of Khitan." The nobleman looked at him doubtfully.
"Thirty years ago, when I was just starting out, I was still a team deputy and carried a gun in Liaoyang." The old man glanced at him sideways and said, "At that time, I fought with you against the Bohai Kingdom. Well, I also fought with the Bohai Kingdom. I'll pass you. Who doesn't know about that thing in the north? We are old rivals for hundreds of years."
The Khitan nobleman cursed secretly and said, "We should join forces with the Bohai people to beat you."
The old man sat down directly, smiled happily, and said: "There is no chance. We retreated from Liaoyang, but you started fighting. We have been fighting for thirty years, and we still have some skills. The people of Bohai are about to be killed by you."
The Khitan nobles were also very sad.
In the area outside Linyu Pass, Youzhou, Khitan, and Bohai have always been playing the Three Kingdoms game. Generally speaking, the Han people have a lot of ambitions. Either they join forces with Bohai to fight Khitan, or they join forces with Khitan to fight Bohai. After fighting for so many years, Khitan and Bohai I just didn't understand how to join forces.
If it weren't for the chaos inside Youzhou and the military governors frequently attacking, Khitan and Bohai would probably have been killed.
"That's all, there's nothing to laugh about." The old officer sighed, then took out two more steamed cakes and handed them over, saying, "Eat more, you'll be slaughtered when you go back, but you won't have to eat."
The Khitan nobleman was furious and said, "Why do you curse people?"
The old man waved his hand and said, "I won't argue with words. In fact, you know it in your heart, so what does it matter if I don't say it? After you go back, if you are desperate, you can run west and go south."
The Khitan nobleman glanced at the old man suspiciously, and was surprised. Suddenly, he seemed to understand something, a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth, and he said nothing.
The old man had no expression on his face, just looking at the mountains in the distance, and sighed softly,
Who wouldn't want to defend Sangzi unless they have no choice? In fact, there is nothing to be embarrassed about. He is just a small person. Nowadays, aren't some big shots also doing things to collaborate with the enemy?
"Before I saw General Li, I was still thinking about what kind of hero he was. But now that I have seen him, he is indeed very majestic and heroic." Li Shouxin said with admiration in the Guizhou Yamen.
"Envoy, please take a seat." Li Cunxiao stretched out his hand and said.
The soldier brought a pot of tea and poured it for the two of them, as well as several plates of snacks such as dried fruits and dried meats, and then retreated to guard the door.
"Guizhou is poor and there is nothing to entertain." Li Cunxiao sat down opposite Li Shouxin and said calmly.
"It doesn't matter." Li Shouxin smiled and said, "Simple and unpretentious, sharing the joys and sorrows with the soldiers, this is a true general. If you indulge in pleasure all day long, you will never achieve anything."
Li Shouxin was the son of Li Hang, and he had successfully persuaded Wang Shifan to surrender. With such a brilliant record, it was natural that he would do his part to persuade Li Cunxiao to surrender this time.
Of course, Li Shouxin was not the only one sent by Honglu Temple to persuade him to surrender.
In fact, envoys were sent to Yunzhou, Yuzhou, Xinzhou, Yizhou, and Guizhou. Some of their missions failed. For example, when Shi Shanyou went to persuade Shi Shanyou to surrender, he died in battle, and you still persuaded Mao to persuade him to surrender.
?Some are still continuing, such as Li Shouxin who came to Guizhou.
When entering Guizhou City, Li Shouxin observed carefully.
The city wall is high and thick, and it can be called a fortified city, an important town, but the overall situation is relatively poor - this is foreseeable. It is not rich to begin with, and it has been fighting for so many years. If it is not poor, it will be a ghost.
Gui
It seems that Zhouzhou Yamen has not been repaired for a long time. Looking from a distance, the tiles on the exterior wall have fallen off in many places and have not been repaired.
After entering Zhou Yamen, what I saw was that there were no eye-catching furnishings. The whole place gave people a simple and even simple feeling.
The sergeants vary in height, short, fat, and thin, which shows that their supply of soldiers has been almost exhausted. I remember when he went to Wang Shifan's mansion, there were a lot of tall and long-armed guards in the palace. If he looked carefully, he found that everyone was about the same height. It was not easy to achieve this.
Easy, Wang Shifan must have gone to great lengths to specially select them from the more than one million soldiers and civilians in the town - this does not mean that the Ziqing soldiers are better than the Guizhou soldiers, in fact it is probably the opposite.
The clothes on Sergeant Guizhou's body are also relatively old, washed out and white, and have many patches. However, his mental outlook is not bad and his morale is not bad.
At this moment, Li Cunxiao entertained Li Shouxin, and the snacks he brought out were just a few plates of wild fruits of different sizes and roughly made preserved meat. They were not on the same level as the exquisite food at Wang Shifan's house.
Moreover, there are no vocalists, dancers or other people to add to the entertainment, maybe because there is no money to support them.
Simple, so simple! Compared with Qingzhou, Guizhou is not as poor as the Central Plains. With this material condition, Li Shouxin is a little more confident in completing the task.
"People of the Ming Dynasty don't speak secretly." Li Cunxiao glanced at the envoy and said, "The King of Xia sent you here, and you will definitely have something to teach you. The envoy doesn't have to rush to tell you, please listen to my terms first, okay?"
Li Cunxiao called Shao Shude "King of Xia", which was from the standpoint of Hedong. After all, Jinyang still used the Tianyou reign title and obeyed the Tang Dynasty. It was very polite not to call Shao Shude a rebellious minister and traitor.
"General, it doesn't matter if you say it." Li Shouxin said.
"I heard that Ding Hui, the surrendered general from Liang, became the defense envoy to Qizhou." Li Cunxiao said: "Ding Hui surrendered due to poverty. I can surrender the three states, but I can't do any worse than Ding Hui. The military envoy of a town or Is there a defense envoy for a large and wealthy county? I really don’t want to stay in this place, Xinyi Gui.”
What a huge appetite! Li Shouxin sneered secretly.
He collected his thoughts and was about to say something when he saw Li Cunxiao's soldiers walking in and whispering something in his ear.
Li Cunxiao couldn't hide his thoughts and immediately frowned.