Xindu, the newest capital of the Qiang Kingdom, was the palace of Shi Hu, the lord of the Qiang Kingdom, who managed Youyan and the affairs of Daibei a few years ago. With the increasing prosperity of the southern kingdom, especially last year, when the Yellow River crossed the Yellow River and probed troops into the southern Hebei region, the foundation of the ruling foundation of the Deqing kingdom in southern Hebei was greatly shattered, and Xindu became the new capital of the southern Hebei kingdom, which was just right.

In fact, after seeing the situation of the southern king's division marching north and pressing forward step by step this year, many subjects of the state who are pessimistic about the future of the national fortune have already felt that even Xindu does not seem to be safe, and Boling and even Zhongshan further behind should be a better choice.

However, those who hold such views only dare to communicate in private, and do not dare to publicize them in public at all. Because sending to Xindu is already the limit of Shi Hu's patience, he has been strong and arrogant, and he has rarely compromised and retreated, at least he has always shown people in this posture.

However, due to the big defeat in southern Hebei last year, especially the fall of Xiangguo, the country was shaken, and the strength was also lacking in integration, so he had to take a small step back, but it did not mean that Shi Hu was willing to give up the hegemony of Hebei. The reason why Xindu, which is not an absolutely safe city, was chosen as the new capital is to accumulate strength and fight back!

Of course, what Shi Hu's true intentions are is really deep and difficult to say, at least the posture he shows is exactly like this. After arriving in Xindu, he put on a resolute attitude of enduring humiliation and revenge, and sent out all the soldiers of the surrounding counties and countries to fight and the people of the opposition gathered around this capital, and fought hard to defeat the army of the southern country and the north.

In the past year or so, the situation of Xindu has also undergone earth-shaking changes, and the biggest change is the increase in the number of people. Since deciding to move the capital last year, Shi Hu has taken Xiangguo as the center and ordered the people of the surrounding cities and suburbs to move to Xindu in a big way, and at the same time, the people of several counties in northern Hebei are also constantly being requisitioned.

By the beginning of winter this year, more than 100,000 households had gathered around Xindu, and the number of soldiers who had been reorganized and enlisted in the army had exceeded 200,000.

So many soldiers and civilians gathered here, the original Xindu city alone is naturally not enough to accommodate, but the geographical situation of Xindu is also quite similar to Xiangguo, all of them are a horse and a flat river, and the soldiers and civilians who cannot be accommodated in the city are placed on the vast field, making many camps, forts and shacks gathered by the people outside the city are spread out like lotus leaves, and there is almost no idle soil within a radius of dozens of miles!

The defeat of southern Hebei brought a heavy blow to the national strength of the country, especially a large number of veterans of the war were killed in battle, and the loss was so great that it chased the defeat of Shihu's southern expedition in the old years of the country. In particular, several big victories of the Jin army showed that Wang Shi could hardly match the combat effectiveness in this world, and also made it possible to believe that although there were large armies gathered, the generals still did not dare to speak lightly about military affairs.

Aside from the original remaining armor soldiers in the Qiang Kingdom, in the past year, the lord Shihu Yu Xindu has reorganized more than 100,000 armor soldiers, and almost all the young and strong laborers have joined the army, of course, not including the living population under the shadow of those local heroes.

Although Shi Hu was still in a strong posture, the current predicament forced him to make a slight concession to those local Haoqiang. The southern country is pressing forward step by step, and he is determined to counterattack, and he has no spare strength to fight those villagers who have formed a dock to protect themselves, if the persecution is too much and even triggers a large-scale civil uprising, it is enough to make the already precarious national situation fall apart!

These hundreds of thousands of newly organized armor people were divided into six legions by Shi Hu, and they were handed over to six generals to command. The so-called six armies of the Son of Heaven are the leading troops, the protectors, the left and right guards, the cavalry, and the guerrillas, and the six armies each lead 20,000 soldiers, which is the so-called outer six armies. Corresponding to it is the Inner Six Army, chariot cavalry, hussars, Chinese army, Wuwei, Longxiang, Longteng, each army of 12,000 people.

The Sixth Outer Army was divided into various places around the capital of Xin, and there was no edict to enter. The Inner Sixth Army was personally led by Shi Hu, the lord of the Inner Army, and garrisoned the city. In addition to the 200,000 people of the six armies inside and outside, there are still Zhang Wu Wang Shi Bin, Youzhou Thorn Shi Zhang Ju, Sikong Li Nong and other people from all walks of life, if you add Shi Kun, the king of Wu'an of Xiangguo, this part of the force is still more than 100,000 people.

If we put aside the quality and combat effectiveness of the army, there are still nearly 400,000 troops under the current force of the Qiang State, plus those who are dependent on the Qiang State from all walks of life and the righteous and righteous, this number is even more exaggerated, far more than 500,000 soldiers. It is precisely because of this that although the country is in decline, it still gives people a feeling of being able to fight.

Nowadays, the area around Xindu is overcrowded, and in order to prepare for war, the city has not been expanded on a large scale. In this limited space in the city, naturally only the real important ministers and magnates in the country can occupy a seat, and the rest of the people can only camp in the suburbs.

Located in the northeast area of the city, there is a grand mansion, which was originally the palace where the lord Shi Hu lived in the old years, but after Shi Hu officially ascended the throne and became the emperor, this palace naturally could not match the prestige of the Son of Heaven, and chose another place to build a palace. As for the vacated palace, it was not idle, but was divided into large and small areas, and was rewarded to the civil and military ministers who were valued by the lord Shi Hu.

The mansion of Zhang Jackal, the general of the town army, is located in this original main palace, and occupies nearly a quarter of the size of the palace, and even far exceeds the mansion of the prince Shi Jian, Shi Bao and others, which shows the glory of the honor. In addition to serving as the general of the town army, Zhang Jackal also served as a waiter, entering and leaving the palace, and accompanying the attendants.

It's just that although he enjoys such an honor, Zhang Jackal himself can't talk about how excited he is. His so-called post of general of the town army could not be in charge of the defense of the outer Sixth Army out of the city, nor could he take charge of the inner Sixth Army in the acropolis, except for the front of the train, there was no practical benefit. After serving as a waiter, the name is accompanied by the driver, but in fact, it is restricted and forbidden, and it is even more uncomfortable.

In the middle of the wax month, Zhang Jackal's young son died early, and he couldn't help himself, so he was able to return home for funeral treatment and stay for a few days.

Although Zhang Jackal has been vanized, on the surface, he is still a veteran and important minister who is trusted and valued by the Lord, so after learning that he has returned home, there is an endless stream of visitors.

Among these visitors who came in and out, a few of them did not go straight to the front hall to wait for an interview, but were led by the Zhang family around the central hall and into the inner courtyard.

In an inconspicuous warm pavilion in the inner courtyard, Zhang Jackal was living in it, and there was not much grief for the loss of a child on his face, and when he raised his eyes and saw a few people entering, he opened his mouth and asked, "Is the matter done?" ”

Several people stepped forward and saluted, bowed their heads and said: "The thieves have been ambushed outside Fucheng, but there are many camps and garrisons, and it will take a little time to clear them." The city is very strict, and the thieves dare not bring their heads into the city......"

As he spoke, one of them stepped forward on his knees, took out the talismans representing Ma Qiu's official status from his bosom and waved them one by one.

Zhang Jackal raised his hand to take these talismans, carefully observed them for a while, and then threw them on the case, and frowned and scolded in a low voice: "The dog thief bears a great name, and the war has been ruined to this step, and he still has the face to return to the country?" Could it be that he thought that after committing such a great crime, it was possible for the Lord to spare his dog's life? ”

After a pause, he said: "In addition to banning the transmission of news from the west to the east, you must also carefully inquire about the news from Xiangguo, especially what is Zhang Hedu's life and death." Alas, this fool promised me earlier that he would be able to lead back tens of thousands of veterans of the Xiangguo, but the result was that the Xiangguo was captured so easily! I knew that his talent was so unbearable, and I didn't dare to raise his people to stay in Xiangguo in front of the lord before! ”

These people are all loyal to Zhang Jackal's long-term cultivation, after hearing the words, they responded, and one of them said: "Xiangguo has tens of thousands of guards, presumably the Jin army is difficult to easily encircle and annihilate, now the city has been lost, the thieves have fled into the country, but Zhang Hedu has no news, but I am afraid that he has surrendered to Jin." Inevitably implicating the lord of Lang, is he waiting for the opportunity to kill? ”

Zhang Jackal shook his head after hearing this, and then sneered: "At present, the people in the country are scattered, and it is a rare choice to vote for Jin. If he can really get the Jin State Court, if there is a change in the coming year, it will not be a help. ”

After that, Zhang Jackal asked about the latest situation outside the city, and then said to a few people: "The lord may not allow me to stay outside the garden for a long time, and if there is any secret matter to be conveyed later, you can tell Wulang directly, and soon I will know what the order is, and Wulang will also convey it to you." ”

After a few people withdrew, Zhang Jackal instructed his family to close the door and not let the idlers and others harass him like this, while he sat on the desk and planned the gains and losses.

In the past year or so, Shi Hu's defense against Zhang Jackal has become more and more obvious, but it is not enough to completely suppress all the strength of Zhang Jackal. In other words, it is precisely because Zhang Jackal is too powerful that he has attracted the vigilance from the lord of the caramel.

On the surface, although Zhang Jackal no longer commands the people in the country, he has tens of thousands of private soldiers. In particular, many of the powerful portals that were originally moved into Xindu between Guangping and Julu were attached to Zhang Jackal's orders.

Although Zhang Jackal's own power was suppressed, it was difficult for Shi Hu to completely ignore his appeal among the Jin people, and still accepted his brother Zhang Li as the right guard general of the Outer Sixth Army. At the same time, Liu Bao, the general of Long Xiang in the Sixth Army, and Zhang Jackal are also related by marriage.

In addition, there are many middle-level generals and commanders in the Twelve Armies inside and outside, who are either protégés of the Zhang family or favored by him, and have long been intertwined into a dense net. Although Zhang Jackal himself was detained in the garden most of the time, it did not hinder the activities of his forces.

For example, this time he intercepted and killed Ma Qiu, who returned to China, and among the envoys sent to Xiangguo, there were Zhang Jackal's henchmen, and when he learned that such a big change had occurred in Xiangguo, he hurriedly reported back to Zhang Jackal. And Zhang Jackal's reaction is also called swiftness, taking advantage of the convenience of the attendant royal car, first blocked several channels leading into the garden, and secretly ordered his family to poison his young son, so he took this opportunity to leave the forbidden garden and personally arranged the interception and killing of Ma Qiu.

Ma Qiu is just a lone husband in the country, and he may be more trusted by Shi Hu than Zhang Jackal, but when he has no protection from his subordinates and Zhang Jackal is determined to kill him, even Shi Hu, the master of the Qiang, can't protect him!