Except for one Xiangzhou in the area east of Taihang Mountain and north of the Yellow River, almost all the land in Hebei was controlled by Zhao Junsheng, and controlling such a large territory would not only cause deep jealousy on the part of the imperial court, but also cause fear and fear among other princes.

Zhao Junsheng knew that these princes would definitely be thinking about whether they would be the next one to be destroyed, they wanted to protect themselves, and the best way at present was to form an alliance and join forces to kill him.

There are also a number of princes south of the lower reaches of the Yellow River, and the strength of these people is stronger than the other, as well as the Buliu Guqi and Luoyang's lieutenants in Bingzhou, and the leather leopards and Xi dependents in the central region; There are also people from the Hetao area, these people are not easy to mess with, once these people unite to deal with him, he will be invincible with two fists and four hands.

Therefore, Zhao Junsheng understood that what Dongfang Chen and Gao Yun said was right, the war at this stage was over, and it could not be fought any longer, and the next thing was to send people to convey their goodwill to the princes, and it was the most important thing to digest the vested interests.

Having said that, the army cannot be withdrawn for the time being, and it is necessary to have good relations with these princes before withdrawing the army.

Zhao Junsheng asked, "What the two gentlemen said is very satisfying to me, but what should we do next to make the princes eliminate their hostility towards this king?" ”

Gao Yunxin came over and was eager to show himself, Dongfang Chen knew that Gao Yun had goods in his stomach, and he didn't take credit from him.

I saw Gao Yun arch his hand and said: "Lord, the minister thinks that we must do it with both hands: first of all, we must send someone to the capital to report to the imperial court, and say that we have suppressed the rebellion of An Cong and Baba Shouxing in accordance with the imperial edict!" Secondly, send people to meet with the princes separately, negotiate with them to open the passes, communicate with each other, and withdraw each other's border troops, in order to show goodwill, our army should withdraw first! ”

After hearing this, Zhao Junsheng said: "The next day, the king has no opinion, that is, the first one, what if the imperial court wants to appoint a new Dingzhou assassin and Yingzhou assassin history?" How should the king respond? ”

Gao Yun said with a smile: "If the imperial court wants to send it, let them send it well, as for whether the new Dingzhou Assassin History and the new Yingzhou Assassin History can gain a foothold depends on their ability, whether they can sit firmly in the Assassin History, it is not a matter of the prince's words?" Now the road is not smooth, maybe they will die on the road before they take office, this is nothing to do with the prince! ”

The heart of the scholar is so dark, Zhao Junsheng sighed, and he said to Gao Yun: "Mr. Gao Ming! ”

Gao Yun was very modest: "The prince praised it falsely!" ”

Zhao Junsheng immediately ordered: "Mr. Dongfang, send someone to Jixian to send a letter to Jixian County, and let the pawn Li Ji lead a team to the capital." Let's send people to the princes separately to show them our goodwill! ”

Dongfang Chen promised: "Yes, Lord Wang!" ”

At this time, a soldier walked in and reported: "Lord Qiqi, the quartermaster Mao Xiuzhi has arrived, and he is waiting outside the tent for the prince to summon him!" ”

"Let him in!"

Mao Xiuzhi walked in quickly to greet him: "The minister greets the prince!" ”

Zhao Junsheng raised his hand to get him up, and asked, "Jingzhi, why did you come in person?" ”

Mao Xiuzhi hugged his fists and said: "Lord Wang, the stakes are very high, and the minister can't help but come!" A few days ago, the weather in Youzhou turned cold rapidly, and soon there was a heavy snowfall, which was so cold that the ministers were worried that the soldiers of the army would be frozen, so they organized people to urgently make a batch of winter clothes, and the ministers were worried that there would be problems on the way, so they had to personally lead the team to escort them over! After a look in Dingzhou, I found that the weather here is not warm, and the minister is relieved, this time a total of 30,000 sets of winter clothes have been shipped, I hope it is enough! ”

Zhao Junsheng said: "You guys reacted quickly this time and did a good job! 30,000 sets of winter clothes should be enough for the Chinese soldiers, as for the town army and the state and county soldiers, the king ordered the local governments of Dingzhou, Yingzhou and Jizhou to fund and organize people to make a batch of winter clothes to solve the urgent need! ”

Mao Xiuzhi nodded, remembered something and hurriedly reported: "Lord, there is another matter, before the minister set off, the government and the town army of Yingzhou and Andong Prefecture respectively sent messengers to report to the general's mansion that it has snowed heavily in recent days, and a large area of various places has suffered a snow disaster, and the government is trying its best to provide disaster relief and save the affected people, but the barbarians outside the country have frozen to death countless people and livestock, and Kumoxi, Khitan, Beji and other tribes have sent troops south to loot our border cities and villages and towns in order to find food······

After hearing this, Zhao Junsheng and the officials and generals all looked solemn, the war in the south has not completely ended, and there is another accident in the north.

At this moment, a shout came from outside: "Newspaper-newspaper-"

Everyone's attention was attracted by this voice, and before the words fell, a messenger ran into the tent panting and reported: "Lord Qiyu, due to the heavy snow in the northeast, the barbarians have frozen to death countless livestock, in order to survive, Kumoxi, Khitan and Beji tribes have sent troops to the south to plunder, and the areas of Fancheng, Pinggang, Changli, and Fuyu City have been devastated, and the barbarians have taken away tens of thousands of people, and stolen countless cattle, sheep, and grain and cloth!" ”

"Three days ago, Madame has led more than 20,000 people from the Flying Bear Army, the Shenwu Army, the Longxiang Army, and the Whirlwind Army to Yingzhou to crusade against the barbarians!"

Zhao Junsheng's first reaction was not to get angry, but to worry from the bottom of his heart, even if Mulan was at fault, he would never show his dissatisfaction and anger in front of outsiders, and he would try his best to maintain the image of the other party in front of outsiders.

It is now the end of October, due to the weather, Hua Mulan led the army to Yingzhou only twenty days later, at that time the weather conditions are only afraid that it will be worse, and it will be very difficult to use troops against the barbarians, he is worried that Hua Mulan will suffer if she has no experience in fighting in the ice and snow.

In fact, according to Zhao Junsheng's original intention, for the sake of insurance, it is best to wait for another two months, on the one hand, you can make sufficient preparations, and on the other hand, wait for the weather to warm up after two months, whether it is marching or fighting, or even grain and grass transportation is much more convenient, you don't have to care about these two months at all.

Zhao Junsheng waved his hand to the messenger with a calm face and said, "This king knows, you eat in the afternoon first, so that you can rest!" ”

The messenger withdrew.

Zhao Junsheng looked at the strategists, officials and generals: "Let's talk about it!" ”

Zhang Xing, the general of Dingzhou Town, stood up and hugged his fists and said: "Lord Wang, fighting on two fronts is a taboo for soldiers, if you want to deal with the barbarians in the northeast, you must be familiar with the terrain and climate over there, I am afraid that Mrs. is inexperienced in this regard, and I think that I will send an experienced person who is familiar with the situation of the barbarians over there to assist Mrs., and the matter here must be ended as soon as possible!" ”

Zhao Junsheng nodded and asked, "General Zhang, do you think General Guo Sheng is competent to assist his wife in the conquest of the Northeast Barbarians?" ”

Zhang Xing said: "General Guo has lived in the Northeast for a long time, and is very familiar with the barbarian tribes, and when he was young, he often went in and out of the barbarian tribes, and he is very familiar with the situation in the deep mountains and old forests of the Northeast, even the last general is not comparable to him!" ”

"Good!" Zhao Junsheng immediately said: "Someone, give General Guo Sheng an order, let him temporarily put down the military affairs of Yingzhou, hand it over to the deputy general, and immediately rush to Yingzhou in the Northeast to meet his wife, this king appointed him as the general of the barbarian expedition, and assisted his wife in crusading against the barbarians in the northeast!" In addition, he appointed his wife as the general of Zhengdong, the military governor of Yingzhou and Andong Prefecture, and ordered all the yamen of the General's Mansion to fully cooperate with the barbarian war! ”

Several military orders were quickly written by the copywriting officer next to them, and after neatly transcribing and verifying, they were handed over to Zhao Junsheng for viewing and sealing, and then ordered someone to ride a fast horse and send them out.

After sending the messenger away, Zhao Junsheng continued: "It seems that this king has to rush back to Youzhou to take the town. Mr. Dongfang, you are fully responsible for the dealings with the princes! ”

Dongfang Chen stood up and agreed: "The minister receives the order!" ”

Zhao Junsheng said to Zhang Xing again: "General Zhang, this king will add you as the general of Zhennan, and order you to supervise the military forces of Dingding, Ying, and Hebei, and then leave Bai Jinguang as your deputy general, and let him lead the Flying Bear Army of 5,000, the Shenwu Army of 3,000, the Whirlwind Army of 5,000, and the Xuanjia Army of 2,000 to assist you!" ”

In this way, the Zhenshu army of Sanzhou plus Bai Jinguang's 15,000 people, the total force that Zhang Xing can mobilize and command is close to 40,000 horses, this is a powerful military force, if it is not fully trusted, how can it be entrusted with such a heavy task?

Zhang Xing hugged his fists and agreed: "The last general will obey the order!" ”

"In addition, the Northeast barbarians are going south to plunder, and the news that our army is sending troops to fight must be blocked and not allowed to spread!"

The officials and generals all knew that unconfidential matters would lead to trouble, and agreed together: "Yes, Lord Wang!" ”

The next day, Zhao Junsheng led the remaining more than 20,000 soldiers and horses to set off north to return to Jixian County, more than 20,000 soldiers and horses, more than 10,000 of them were soldiers and horses of the Chinese army, and the remaining more than 10,000 were the surplus soldiers and horses after the surrender and capture of the three states of Dingzhou, Jizhou and Yingzhou, which were all incorporated into the reserve army.

Two days after Zhao Junsheng led his army north, in order to dispel the doubts of the princes, Zhang Xing ordered Bai Jinguang to lead the Chinese army of 15,000 men and horses to retreat north and camp on the south bank of Hutuoshui, which eased the tense situation, and the princes' vigilance against Zhao Junsheng was also relaxed.

Northeast.

At this time, it was already a world of ice and snow, and Hua Mulan led an army of 20,000 people to the east from Beigukou, stepping on the thick snow to Pinggang City.

Fortunately, although the temperature was very low these days, there was no snow, and the Mobei bantam horses played an extremely good role in this march, carrying the soldiers and pulling the sleighs full of baggage to march against the cold wind for several days in a row, marching seventy or eighty miles a day, even in good weather.

"Madam, we should be in front of Hiraoka Castle!" Li Bao ran back from the front to report to Mulan.

Hua Mulan was a little displeased, "When you go on the expedition, you are not allowed to call Mrs., you are not allowed to call General!" ”

"Yes, General! The last general just took someone to investigate, Hiraoka······ It's in ruins! Li Bao said in a heavy tone.

Mulan noticed the change in Li Bao's tone and had a hunch that the situation might not be good, but when she arrived in Hiraoka with the army and walked into the city, she realized how wrong she was.

Entering the city through the city gate, Mulan rode on horseback and saw only the corpses of the people covered by heavy snow, many houses were burned down, and collapsed earthen walls and blackened beams could be seen everywhere.

All the people who were killed were men, old people and children, it was a massacre, Mulan jumped off the horse, she walked to the body of a child and crouched down, reached out to brush the snow off the corpse, revealing the knife wound on the back of the corpse.

This kid is not even five or six years old!

Hua Mulan walked to the next corpse with a blue face, the wound was also on the back, there was no doubt that these people were slaughtered by the barbarians in the process of escaping.