Located at the eastern foot of Taihang Mountain, the well is located in Changshan County, Jizhou, is the fifth of the eight Taihang mountains, and is also an important channel for Shanxi and Hebei to communicate.

Time has passed, and the story has become ancient, but the steepness of Xiongguan Fortress is still unscathed. Now in the suburbs to the east of Jingcheng, there is a huge camp of dozens of miles, people roar and neigh, invincible and mighty, it is now the place where the king of Zhao Tianwang Shihu Xing is located.

In the outermost part of the camp, there are several ravines that stretch for dozens of miles, extending to dozens of zhang, and the depth is more than several zhang, the river water seduces and pours into it, the microwave floods, the weather is not inferior to the big river, and there are even boats and boats coming and going in it, commanding and practicing day and night, which makes people frightened and dare not approach and peep.

In the vast wilderness, many soldiers rode back and forth, driving the laborers who accompanied the army to erect long fences and enclose the wilderness, jungles and even mountains and valleys, as a hunting ground for the king to hunt and train his soldiers.

In these areas, there is no shortage of farmland and villages, but if they are unfortunately imprisoned, they can only sigh that they are unlucky, not only will the fields and mulberry gardens be used for military purposes, but even the old and young women and children will be ordered by the army to assemble and become the labor of the army to help the war.

The whole camp is huge, and in addition to the fixed army barracks, there are many special camps, each with different purposes. Some camps are dedicated to housing thousands of cattle, sheep and livestock, while others are stocked with numerous war horses. Others gathered thousands of craftsmen to make different instruments in the army.

Among them, there are also special camps, which mainly house women recruited from all sides, in addition to satisfying the lustful pleasures of the king himself, but also used to reward and reward those meritorious soldiers.

"Man's great desires are only wealth, sex, and power. What is the regret of the husband's life? The fields are tired endlessly, they can't eat, and their wives and children are cold. Whoever is diligent in obeying the king's commands, loyal and brave, and seeking pleasure, will never end! ”

This kind of slogan is widely spread in Hebei, and among some brave and strong people, it is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and they have thrown themselves into the command of the king, relying on their courage and violence against others, in exchange for all kinds of rewards and pleasures.

In addition, there is also a unique camp in the camp, in which hundreds of monks are placed, and they pray to the heavens and pray to the earth in every place to wish the king eternal enjoyment, and every time there is a war, there are many grand rituals, in order to seek the blessing of the gods and Buddhas, and they are invincible.

The core of the camp is the tent of the king of heaven, and several independent camps are set up around it, stationed in the most elite cronies and strong soldiers in front of the king of heaven, including the black lance dragon army built according to the heavy cavalry of the Jin army, with men and horses in armor, like killing gods.

In addition, there is also a special team in the Heavenly King's Command, a thousand cavalry, all composed of women. These women are all white-armored and red-tasseled, not only beautiful in appearance, but also rare in the skill of bows and horses, driving and fighting, not inferior to strong men.

Around the king's tent, there are rows of sturdy and huge black iron fences, and in the fences are fierce and abnormal large beasts such as tigers, leopards, bears, etc., calling day and night, and the sound is shaking the heavens and the earth. When ordinary people heard these terrible howls from afar, they would be so frightened that they would not even dare to approach the king's tent.

This royal tent is also made by the most skilled craftsmen in Hebei. The whole camp tent is huge and has no friends, wide and lixu, more than a few zhang high, surrounded by a lot of Chen, leopard tails stand in a forest, the big is towering, and the flag is fierce.

Those who can haunt the king's tent are all the henchmen of the king, and any strange face who walks near the shore without being summoned will be immediately punished by ten thousand arrows and swords.

"The majesty of the kings of ancient times has not been more than the kings of heaven. The gods and Buddhas are sheltered, the tigers and leopards are driven, the heroes and souls of the world are all under the tent, and the strong enemy is coming, and it is difficult to break the grass and trees under the tent! ”

How majestic is the majesty of the king, the viewers all feel that the world is unparalleled, but no matter how majestic the ceremony, after all, there are invisible people who do not know its majesty.

In the king's tent now, the angry roar of the king of heaven was heard: "The house slave dog is daring, dare to hope to share the mountains and rivers with me? He, a dog who wanders outside the court gate, what virtue and strength dare to ask me for the king of Shanxi? ”

After the roar, a series of chaotic pleas for mercy sounded in the big tent, but soon a group of tiger warriors rushed into the tent, and more than a dozen people were twisted out before they could spin.

"The King of Heaven spares his life...... Thou shalt not kill the envoys lightly......"

The howl of one of them had stopped abruptly before he could still breathe it out, and the steel knife he swung directly cut off his head, and the blood gushing out immediately aroused the ferocity of the tigers, leopards and beasts in the fence, roaring again and again, shocking everyone inside and outside the tent without blood.

However, the samurai who were executed did not change their faces, and some even deliberately spared the lives of the tortured, and directly stuffed their heads, hands and feet into the fence with iron rods, so that the fierce beasts inside could bite and pounce. No one could bear to look at such a bloody and cruel scene, but the samurai were all laughing happily, as if they were enjoying a scene that could be pleasing to the eye.

In the big tent, Shi Hu was lying on his back on a huge royal bed carved of gold and jade, and on both sides of the royal bed, there were light and delicate maids supporting his fat body with their soft bodies.

As he grew older, Shi Hu became more and more fat and fat, especially the fat eye bags under his eyes trembled because of his angry panting, and the whole person looked more and more like the ancestor Shi Le from his face to his physique.

The anger made him unable to calm down, he irritably ripped off the jade belt tightly on his abdomen, and then roared angrily: "Quickly call Guo Yin's old dog to the tent!" ”

When the waiter in the tent heard this, he hurriedly issued the order. Shi Hu got up from the imperial bed and walked to the other side of the tent, where there was a huge weapon rack, and at the bottom was a bamboo and wood weapon of torture, and the higher it was, the more cruel the torture instrument became.

Shi Hu stood here, silently thinking in his heart, until more than half an hour later, an old and panting voice sounded outside the tent. Hearing this voice, a cold smile appeared on the corner of Shi Hu's mouth, and he raised his hand to grab an iron rod with sharp iron nails at the front, and then snorted coldly: "Get in!" ”

"The old minister sees the ...... of the king"

Outside the door, a white-haired old man in Zhangfu walked in, it was Guo Yin, who was shot by Zhao Guo's official residence, who was nearly seventy years old, and it was still difficult to move, but after tending to enter the account, he was busy bowing down, and at the same time kneeling forward, but after seeing the rusty torture instrument in Shi Hu's hand out of the corner of his eye, the old man's body trembled, and then he trembled: "Before the old minister got the order, he was still supervising the supply of grain and goods from all directions, and Gaoyang, Boling and other counties realized the intention of the above, and re-imported more than 10,000 stones of grain and goods, because it was late......"

"The army is stationed here, and I am afraid that it will be insufficient!"

Shi Hu sneered at the corner of his mouth, lowered his head and rubbed the cane in his hand and said.

After Guo Yin heard this, he hurriedly said: "The Heavenly King has entered the county majesticly, although the place is inspected, but after all, it is far and near, and I also ask the Heavenly King to be considerate and slow down, and wait until all sides are completed, which is naturally enough." ”

Shi Hu's face sank again after hearing this, and he waved his hand and said, "Answer before entering." ”

As he spoke, he walked back to the royal bed, waved the staff in his hand, and suddenly a maid could not avoid being swept by the iron rod, and the sharp iron nail suddenly smashed into the maid's body, and the maid subconsciously screamed, but the sound aroused Shi Hu's ferocity more and more, raised his leg and stepped on the maid's heart, and trampled people to death on the spot.

Seeing this scene, everyone in the tent was silent, and several pale-faced maids trembled forward to carry out the corpses of their companions, and then hurried back to the close attendants to listen to them.

"People say that they are old and slow, but I am not, I am still as impatient as fire. Even if you listen to it nearby, but your hands and feet are still so slow, you have to ask the servant to shoot, whose fault is it that this evil woman died? ”

Shi Hu lowered his eyes and looked at Guo Yin, who was approaching on his knees, and said in a cold tone.

"The king of heaven is respected, and the heavenly man is also, how can he be a fool and a rotten bone of old decay and faintness."

Guo Yin crawled to the rest of the royal bed, and did not dare to come closer, kowtowed.

Shi Hu laughed when he heard this: "If the servant shoots old and rotten bones, then I will not have a person who can use his talents in the court." The army turned back and forth for thousands of miles, and the men and horses were lost, and it was necessary to raise labor and labor. I'm really worried about your old illness and calamity, otherwise I will run out of cooking and drinking! ”

After Guo Yin heard this, he was even more frightened and sweaty, and kowtowed again and again: "Chen Cheng is an old and crippled body, and he is fortunate to be used by the Lord, so he can ...... a little."

"That's it, I'll talk about it later. I summoned you to see you today, just to ask the servant, have those relatives and friends in your hometown been full of great ambitions for a long time, so that they dare to come to me today and say that they want to help my slave and maid to be the king of Shanxi? ”

After beating this Guo Yin, Shi Hu spoke, and when he said this, a few traces of angry flush appeared on his face.

After Guo Yin entered the account, he was beaten, and now he feels confused in his thoughts in addition to panic, and he doesn't know why he angered Shi Hu. After hearing this, he simply wanted to cry without tears, and said immediately: "Since the ministers entered the country to enjoy their grace, they have been in and out with the king for a long time, and they have been whipping their children diligently, lest they slack off and lose their favor to the king." As for the nostalgia, I really don't have time to look back, and I don't know that there are now thieves who dare to rebel against it......"

As he spoke, he kowtowed again and again, and his gray hair became disheveled because of it, and even his forehead quickly swollen.

Seeing Guo Yin like this, Shi Hu vented his anger a little. The reason why he is so angry is because of the people who were previously pushed out of the tent and tortured.

It was a messenger sent by Shi Sheng from Shanxi, and he dared to ask him to be named the king of Shanxi, which directly angered Shi Hu. This dog thief is a lost dog, he can't hold it in a good pass, and was driven north by the Jin army, and it was also because Shi Hu's energy was mainly concentrated in the Youzhou area at that time that he was able to gain a foothold in Shanxi, but he didn't expect that he was still a thief now, and he still hoped to be ruled by Shi Hu across the Taihang Mountain.

In this way, Guo Yin suffered from this unwarranted disaster just because of his ancestral hometown Taiyuan, and was angered by Shi Hu. However, Shi Hu didn't think that this old thief was so wronged, he was prostrate in front of him, looking like an old dog wagging his tail and begging for mercy, but in fact, he was never so deferential as he seemed on the surface.

In the old years, Cheng Yao and other dog thieves controlled Shi Daya in Xiangguo, Shi Hu frequently attacked outside, and he also contacted Guo Yin and others. But the old thief was cunning, and he always saw that he couldn't hold on, and he took refuge when Xiangguo was about to break.

In the past few years, the development of the southern country has been huge, especially the defeat of Yecheng earlier, which also made Shi Hu realize that Hebei is no longer the opponent of the southern thief with this ruined Hebei after several years of civil strife, and it is not suitable to launch a decisive battle immediately.

Later, the turmoil in Jiangdong of the Jin Kingdom also provided Shi Hu with a respite and was able to calmly sort out internal and external affairs. He was in a position that had been seized by Rong Ma, and his greatest concern was naturally the building of the army.

Although Zhao used to be the overlord of the north, that was already in the past. In the early years, those elite soldiers who followed Shi Le to gallop in Hebei suffered many casualties in the process of unifying Hebei, and the remaining ones were almost killed in a battle when Shi Hu marched south.

After that, it was a few years of division and infighting, although Shi Hu finally won and entered the Xiangguo, but the strength of the Zhao State at this time was not the same as in previous years, at least it had declined several times.

Otherwise, with Shi Hu's character, how could he tolerate Yecheng being repeatedly attacked. In particular, Fangtou, an important town of the Jin army in Hebei, was a spike directly inserted in Shi Hu's heart, which made him unable to sleep and eat, and he wanted to pull it out in his dreams.

However, without a truly elite and powerful army, Shi Hu could not realize even if he had any ambitions.

You must know that the opponent of the Jin Kingdom is different from the heroes and dock masters of the divided side that their uncles and nephews faced when they started their families in the past, and they can disintegrate and break each other. The Jin army had a complete establishment, sophisticated armament, and strong logistics, which he took over in the dilapidated Hebei that did not have.

Although after taking over Hebei, Shi Hu was also poor, requisitioned Ding Li, and gathered a large number of troops in a short period of time, but the combat effectiveness of such a newly built army is really worrying. Moreover, this army is mainly composed of the Jin people of Hebei, and once the battle is fought in the south, it is really not optimistic whether the military spirit can be controlled.

Therefore, although the Jin army was approaching the Yellow River and had an aggressive and strong posture, Shi Hu still endured it and arranged the military focus in the north.

This can achieve at least three effects, the first is to use troops in the north, to prevent the Hebei Jin people from being instigated by the southern thieves and fleeing south in large numbers, and to take these Hebei Ding Zhuang in their hands. The second nature is to sweep away the rebellious Hu tribe like the Xianbei Murong clan in the north and relieve the pressure of border troubles. The third is to consume these untrustworthy Jin people in the north in exchange for those brave and miscellaneous Hu Yizi in the border areas.

Although these goals were very accurate, once they were implemented, they also made Shi Hu more frustrated. Although he had defeated the forces of the Duan clan in western Liaoxi and subdued the Yuwen clan long before he entered the Xiangguo, it was very difficult to attack Liaodong.

On the one hand, due to the harsh geographical and climatic environment in eastern Liaodong, the time for troops to be used each year is very limited, and if any twists and turns occur in the process and the military period is delayed, it can be said that the entire year's operations will be fruitless.

On the other hand, there is a lack of material use, after Shi Hu entered the Xiangguo, although he also received some of the residual savings of the old years, but the expansion of the army after that was also a huge consumption. In addition, many strong men were requisitioned, which also made Hebei's labor force greatly scarce, and the war potential was seriously insufficient.

Moreover, Liaodong is not a rich land, and even today's Youzhou cannot meet the requirements of local production and supply, and it is impossible to feed the war with war, and many supplies need to be transported from Hebei to the north. It is also because of this that the scale of operations invested in Liaodi is limited, and it is difficult to gather superior forces for large-scale battles.

It wasn't until he was really in charge that Shi Hu realized the shortcoming of his talent, that is, he was really not good at management. In previous years, he was able to lead the heroic army and defeat the strong enemy on all sides, because the ancestor Shile sat in the rear and provided him with military support.

But now that his family and country are in his hands, all he can do is to expropriate and exploit all the money, and only by plundering the private wealth of the people under his rule can he maintain a huge army and frequent wars. But he also understands that such a method is not sustainable, especially as the southern thieves are getting stronger and stronger, and it is difficult to decide the winner through one or two short-term battles.

In this way, the role of a treacherous old minister like Guo Yin is reflected.

When the entire Hebei region covered by his troops was already barren and could not be squeezed, Hebei, which was gradually naturalized, once again bred a tumor-like dock wall force, and those powerful local villagers began to grow again. This also means that the authority in Shi Hu's hands will be intercepted and split again, and he has no energy to sweep it up for the time being because he has a bigger goal.

Therefore, he could only rely on Guo Yin and other Jin people to negotiate with those dock walls in the local area, and take out money and grain from them to maintain the army. And he essentially doesn't trust the Jin people, seeing that the power of old thieves like Guo Yin is getting bigger and bigger, but he can't abandon it, so he can only seize the opportunity and beat it.

As for the theft of Shanxi, it is another reason.

When he learned that the Jin army was in Guanzhong, Shi Hu originally had two choices, either to gather heavy troops to attack Qingyan in the south, or to go north to continue to sweep away the border troubles. However, at that time, the pressure on the border in the north was already very small, and although the Murong clan was still shrinking in the corner of Liaodong and resisting stubbornly, it was no longer enough to cause much pressure to the north.

But after weighing a lot, Shi Hu still chose to go north, not out of consideration for plundering, but because he gradually felt that his power was being hollowed out.

Like co-ordinating money and food, I had to entrust Guo Yin and other Jin people. In terms of military power, he can't maintain his dominance, and there are a number of elders such as Kui An who are in the way of being an eyesore on one side. In addition, there is gradually a new mountain in the army under his command, that is, the Guangzong beggar army that he relied on after entering the Xiangguo, such as Li Nong and other rising generals, gradually became bigger.

Therefore, after going north and arriving between Youji, Shi Hu immediately hunted and killed Kui An and others, which was regarded as eliminating this group of old people, and then sent the begging army to Liaoxi, and crossed and expanded the Hu tribe Yicong such as Wuhuan and Yuwen with the begging army, which greatly weakened the control of these rising generals over the army.

In addition, Shi Hu knocked on the plugged Zhuhu by the way, especially the Shiyiqian that was supported by him. Because of Yuwen's informant, Shi Hu knew that Shi Yiqian actually dared to go behind his back and look at Murong Ministry, and even proposed to Murong Ministry.

Shi Hu naturally couldn't bear this, and sent the beggar army that had completed the reorganization to Daijun in the west of Youzhou, pointing to the clouds where the core of Daiguo was located, forcing Shi Yiqian to bow his head.

When the Jin army marched westward, Shi Hu had no worries, and he was admittedly very majestic in the north, but he didn't expect the backyard to catch fire, and Shi Sheng's ghost was still alive and he actually seized Taiyuan with the support of Pingyang Di and Qiang.

Of course, part of the reason is that Shi Hu was too careful in dealing with Kui An and others, which directly aroused the vigilance and disgust of the people of Qianghu, and Shanxi is the main settlement of Qianghu. Shi Sheng was able to enter Taiyuan and even be proud of Shanxi, which can be regarded as Shi Hu's bitter fruit self-brewing.

After this busy, as the battle in Guanzhong of the Jin army gradually subsided, Shi Hu realized that he had made a mistake again. Although this trip to the north allowed him to eliminate internal hidden dangers and integrate the forces under his command, the actual increase in strength was very small, and even the land of Shanxi was stolen by Shi Sheng. Although Shi Sheng, a house slave, was not taken seriously by Shi Hu, he was not qualified to be a fierce rival.

However, compared with the great significance of the Jin army's recovery of Guanlong, Shi Hu really did not do much in this rare period of truce between the north and the south, and in comparison, the already existing strength gap was bound to widen. If he could launch an attack from the lower reaches of the Yellow River at that time and plot against Qingyan, even if he couldn't attack, he would have been able to let the Jin army take care of one thing and lose the other, and he would not have recovered Guanlong so smoothly.

Now that the situation in the south is gradually settled, it is too late to regret it, especially the loss of Shanxi, which even caused Shi Hu to lose an excellent offensive line.

If Taiyuan is not lost, Shi Hu can also take advantage of the time when the Jin army's forces are apportioned, gather superior forces, quickly cross the Taihang Mountain, go down the Fenshui from Pingyang, and attack the east and west hub of the Jin army, in fact, this is also an alternative he planned before.

But now due to Shi Sheng's change, even if Shi Hu solves the problem of merging states, it is difficult to seize Hedong when the Jin army is caught off guard. The greatest possibility is that the Jin army gathered heavy troops in Hedong and launched a strong confrontation with his army.

And if this happens, his battle line will also be stretched, and he will face the problem of dispersion of his forces. Regardless of whether the surprise soldiers will stand out, at least it is difficult for his army in Hedong to carry out logistical replenishment through the north bank of the Yellow River, and can only pass through the rugged Taihang Mountains further north.

In this way, a single disadvantage in logistics may become the last straw that crushes Shihu. Especially at present, the logistical subsidies of the State of Jin are mainly concentrated in the hands of treacherous old thieves like Guo Yin, and this point of life and death may become a bargaining chip for these Jin people and dog thieves to defect to the Southern Dynasty.

So for what to do next, Shi Hu is also worried, and this place, it is impossible to defend it with Shi Sheng, once the Jin army draws strength from Guanlong, the next biggest possibility is to go up along the Fenshui to attack Shi Sheng, and crush his dream of being the king of Shanxi.

Thinking of the confusion ahead, Shi Hu had a headache again, and reprimanded Guo Yin again, ordering him to continue to raise military funds for the army.

At this time, Li Nong, who was far away in Dai County, captured a group of Hu people who came out of the desert, and after learning of their intentions, he sent someone to escort them to Jingcheng, where Shihuxing's camp was located.