Li Hong saw Xian Yufu again.

Xian Yufu took four hundred iron horsemen and quickly entered Lulongsai. Li Hong hurriedly greeted him, smiled happily, and shouted from afar: "Lord Xianyu, how do you have time to get to Lulongsai?" ”

Xian Yufu has lost a lot of weight compared to years ago, probably because he has been too tired recently. He is now the official in charge of military affairs in the Youzhou Assassin Mansion, and now that there are frequent wars in Youzhou, there is an emergency everywhere, how can he not be worried.

Xian Yu Fufei dismounted and saluted Li Hong as a subordinate.

Li Hong is now a military horse, and his rank is 1,000 stones, (in the Eastern Han Dynasty, his rank was converted into grain.) 1,000 koku is about 80 valleys. In the Han Dynasty, a hut was 120 catties, which is about 250 grams now. The rank, rank and order of a large county are the same. In the Han Dynasty, the bureaucratic rank was marked by the amount of "a number of stones", which was the so-called "Lu rank", and there were about 18 ranks.

Jun Sima can lead at least two songs and 800 men and horses in the army, and is a grassroots official in the army. Although the officer is not very old, in terms of his age, he is less than twenty years old, and it is already rare to have such a position in the army. If it weren't for the glorious achievements of the Luronsai Defense, and if it weren't for the only officer who survived the Lulongsai War, this military Sima would not have been his turn anyway. As far as his status as a commoner is concerned, he has reached the top of his life to achieve the position of military waiter, and he will receive 600 stone per month.

In the Han Dynasty, the founding monarch Liu Bang relied on the promotion of the class because of military merits to lay down the world, so the military class of the Han Kingdom has always been a very powerful position, until the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the scholar class gradually rose, the gate lords, the clan power began to expand, coupled with the imperial relatives, bureaucrats and nobles took turns to take power, resulting in the rapid decline of the military class.

But now Li Hong is different, the official position of the military Sima has made him break away from the status of a commoner and become a petty bureaucrat. In the army, the military Sima can lead the troops into battle alone, and there are many opportunities to accumulate military exploits, and the bosses who come into contact with him are all military and political officials, as long as they work hard, promotion is naturally a matter of course.

The history of Youzhou Thorn was a strange position in the late Eastern Han Dynasty. When Emperor Xiaowu first placed thirteen assassins, the rank was 600 stones. When he arrived at the time of Emperor Cheng, he was more pastoral, and his rank was 2,000 stones. In the eighteenth year of Jianwu, it was renamed the history of thorns again, and the rank was restored to 600 stones. But its power has not changed. Every year, in July and August, the Prefecture Assassin would inspect the various counties in his prefecture to evaluate the performance of local officials, handle some major litigation cases, and inspect some local celebrities and scholars, and then go to Kyoto at the beginning of the next year to play the Son of Heaven. The twists and turns of Lord Assassin Shi played a very important role in the promotion, appointment and dismissal of local officials, and the selection and recommendation of talents. He has a lot of power, but he has very little rank.

Therefore, the subordinates who follow behind the assassin will naturally have fewer ranks. Xiang Xian Yu Fu, Gong Cao engaged, is the main subordinate officials of the Assassin Mansion, and when he arrives in the county, the county order must personally greet him, but the rank is only a pitiful 300 stones, which is only equivalent to the rank of a county lieutenant or a tun chief.

Although Li Hong was the commander of the Lulongsai garrison, he did not dare to snub the officials of the Shi Mansion. He was startled when he saw Xian Yufu giving him a subordinate salute, and hurriedly ran over and stretched out his hand to help him up:

"Don't dare to be, don't dare to be. Xianyu adults, this is embarrassing for me. ”

Xian Yufu ignored his politeness at all, and listened to Li Hong in a daze at the first sentence.

"Your Excellency, you must follow me to Yuyang."

"Why?" Li Hong asked involuntarily.

"When Lord Thorn Shi left Lu Longsai last year, he made a prediction about the situation in Youzhou this year. Now, as the adults said, the Xianbei people and the Karasuma people have joined forces again, and the two roads are attacking the northern frontier of our Youzhou at the same time, and Juyong and Yuyang are now in danger and urgently waiting for the rescue of the army. ”

"How many troops can Lord Liu draw from each county?"

"Daijun's troops have already come to the aid of Juyong City. Now only Guangyang County, Youbeiping County, plus Lucheng and Yongnu City in Yuyang County, can raise three or four thousand men and horses at most. ”

Li Hong almost fainted after hearing this. It is inconceivable that a great Han country with a population of more than 50 million people does not even have tens of thousands of garrisons in Youzhou, a border county in the northern frontier.

"Last year, you personally told Lord Liu that Lu Longsai would not have any war this year. In the event of a critical situation in other parts of northern Xinjiang, troops can be transferred from Lulongsai to support. Lord Liu has not received your urgent letter so far, and he is sure that there is no major military situation on Lu Longsai's side, so he sent me to come day and night, first, to ask Lord Taishou for help, and second, if Lu Longsai cannot send troops to support, he will also borrow you. ”

Li Hong looked at Xian Yufu with strange eyes.

"Lord Liu believes in your talents, and he thinks you can defeat the Xianbei army." Xian Yufu smiled bitterly, looked at Li Hong sympathetically and said: "In this situation, who still has the confidence to defeat the iron horsemen of the Xianbei people, except for madmen and idiots. ”

He took out a small bamboo slip with a fire paint seal from his bosom and handed it to Li Hong, "This is the authorization of Lord Thorn Shi, you can command the support forces of Guangyang County and Yuyang County." ”

Li Hong took it in a daze, and said stupidly: "I can't leave Lu Longsai without permission." ”

Xian Yufu nodded: "I know." Take me to Taishou-sama. ”

Liu Zheng looked down at his white hands and was silent.

Xian Yufu sat on the seat tiredly, and Li Hong next to him asked him in a low voice why there were so few border troops in Youzhou? Xian Yufu glanced at Liu Zheng vigilantly, and then said in a low voice:

"Now the government of the Great Han Kingdom is completely controlled by the imperial relatives and eunuchs, and the officials and clans of all over the country are dependent on them to survive. With their support, these local officials and powerful people wantonly annexed land and exploited the people, and countless wealth of the Han Kingdom was concentrated in the hands of these people, resulting in the strange phenomenon of extremely rich ministers and wealthy families, extremely poor countries and people. Thousands of people have been busy for a whole year, often not enough to pay rent and taxes. The magnitude of the Yellow Turban riots last year had something to do with this. ”

"The country was too poor and there was little fighting on the border, so the army was reduced. In order to deduct more military salaries, officers at all levels have falsely reported the number of soldiers. As a result, the number of troops was drastically reduced. “

"Last year, because of the Yellow Turban Riots, the number of troops was small, and it was unfavorable to clean up, so His Majesty authorized all prefectures and counties to appropriately recruit and expand the army. If it weren't for last year's army expansion, there would be fewer soldiers and horses in Youzhou this year. ”

Li Hong wanted to ask something, but Liu Zheng spoke.

"People, are you sure that Uyan and Micah will not suddenly attack Luronse when his forces are empty?"

"My lord, I have explained it in detail many times. They really don't have the strength to attack again. Last year's fiasco is not something they can recover in a year or two. Even if they wanted to attack, how could they break through Lulongse without tens of thousands of people? Both Xianbei and Wuyan in the east suffered big losses last year, and trying to gather a large army and encourage more tribes to send troops and money is simply an act of exhausting the fish, and will not get a response from the majority of tribal leaders. Murong Feng's central Xianbei main force was besieging Yuyang, and he was naturally not stupid enough to fight on two fronts at the same time, and divided his troops to attack Lu Longsai. ”

"But if we delay the timing and don't support Yuyang, resulting in the fall of Yuyang, and let the Xianbei Iron Cavalry fall down, there is no point in holding a Lulongsai? The land of the Han Dynasty was trampled by the Hu people, the people of Youzhou were ravaged and slaughtered by the enemy, and the flames of war were burning everywhere in the northern Xinjiang. Will it be possible to drive away the Hu people and regain their homeland? Can it save the lives that groaned in the flames of war? Can we show the inviolable majesty of our Great Han Kingdom? ”

Li Hong's face flushed excitedly, and he said loudly: "My lord, once the Xianbei people break through Juyong and seize Yuyang, their forces will be connected in the northern part of Youzhou, and at this time, Lu Longsai will be in a situation where he will be attacked on his back, and it will be a Jedi with no danger to defend. If they surround us for months, they will starve us to death. ”

Liu Zheng's very smooth face, twitched nervously a few times with Li Hong's waving hands. Li Hong's words finally moved him and forced him to make up his mind to send troops to support Yuyang City.

"People, how many people should be left to guard Lulongsai?"

"A thousand is enough." Li Hong saw that Liu Zheng had agreed to send troops to support, and he was pleasantly surprised to exchange an excited look with Xian Yufu.

"Reinforcements had just arrived, and they were too tired to make another long journey. Take the two thousand men of Luronse and set out at once. Once Liu Zheng made up his mind, he was also resolute. He immediately gave the order to go. Saving soldiers is like fighting fire, time is everything, everyone understands this truth.

Xian Yufu knelt down in front of Liu Zheng, and kowtowed three times in a row to show his gratitude to him.

Liu Zheng waved his hand, motioned for him to get up, and said with a smile: "Tell your lord, the ability of Youbeiping County is limited, and only the two thousand men and horses of Li Zimin can be transferred." More than half of the 2,000 people were horse thieves rescued by Li Zimin from the Xianbei people, and without Li Zimin, there would be no reinforcements from Lu Longsai. If you can defeat the invasion of the Hu people, I hope your family will not forget to bring Li Zimin with you. ”

Li Hong was moved in his heart, and hurriedly knelt down to give Liu Zheng a salute, and said loudly:

"Your Excellency, please be relieved. In this war, the people will live up to the expectations of adults, fight to the death, repel the Hulu, and protect the land of the Han Dynasty. Once the battle is over, return to Luronse and return to serve under your lordship. ”

Liu Zheng stretched out his hand to help him up, looked at him deeply, and suddenly reached out and smoothed the few strands of long hair that Li Hong had scattered on his chest to the back of his shoulders. Although the movements are subtle and casual, they are so warm and full of the love of the kind elders for the juniors. Li Hong's heart was excited, and his eyes were involuntarily a little moist.

This war is dangerous, and there will be a time to meet in the future, who knows?

Liu Zheng didn't speak, just patted Li Hong's shoulder hard.

Li Hong saluted again and strode out.

The bright moon in the sky is in the sky, and the stars are dotted, which is a good time to kill the enemy and serve the country.

Li Hong shouted: "Beat the drum and set off as a team." ”

Suddenly, the thunderous sound of war drums shook the entire Luronse.

Li Hong stood on the hillside, looking at the 2,400 cavalry soldiers galloping on the Xu Wu Plain, and his heart was heavy. Xian Yufu stood next to him and asked softly:

"Adult ......"

Li Hong raised his hand to stop him from continuing.

"We used to be born and die together, side by side, and we didn't need to be so polite to each other. I don't like what you call me an adult, really. I wanted to call you Brother Yuxing, but you called me respectfully every time, so I couldn't speak. Are we really unfamiliar? ”

Xian Yufu never thought that Li Hong would say such a thing, and he was stunned for a while, looking very embarrassed.

Li Hong laughed: "Brother Yu Xing calls me a citizen, isn't it good?" ”

"You can go down to ......"

"Interactions between people, friends and friends, pay attention to fate. If you are in Lulongse, you are also the military commander. Can the size of the official position make you and I unable to even be friends? ”

Xian Yufu was very moved. In fact, in his heart, he still wanted to make friends with Li Hong very much. It's just because of the official position, because of the age, or because the time together is very short, in short, it is a little difficult for Xian Yufu to open his mouth and call someone he respects like a friend. But Li Hong didn't think so, he felt awkward when he heard it, he wanted to make friends with Xian Yufu, he felt that Xian Yufu seemed to be a very stable, reliable, and talented person.

"The battle of Yuyang, the outcome is uncertain, maybe you and I will die there." Li Hong said with a wry smile.

Xian Yufu is not good at saying anything.

"We'll go to Xu Wucheng after dawn, don't you take a break?"

Li Hong suddenly remembered Xiaoyu.

Gu Yu gently opened the door.

Her heart pounded violently. She saw Li Hong, who was cloaked and dressed in armor.

Li Hong stood outside the door, smiling and looking at her silently.

"Are you okay?" Li Hong asked softly.

Gu Yu nodded, and her beautiful big eyes were full of surprise and joy.

Li Hong kept looking at her, silent. Thinking about how this woman will live if she dies in battle? Who will protect her? Ji Ming's dying cry seemed to ring in his ears again.

Li Hong felt a sharp pain in his heart, the smile on his face suddenly disappeared, and his eyes were full of endless sadness and helplessness. He couldn't help but think of the heartbroken wind and snow. She's now in Buyeo Country, how is she?

Gu Yu seemed to understand the sadness in Li Hong's eyes, she leaned weakly against the door frame, her small mouth sobbed, and she couldn't say a word anymore.

Reiko moved a lot of things into the house. Then he flew on his horse and waited for Li Hongdi to leave.

"Xiaoyu, I'll come to see you." Li Hong calmed down and said slowly: "The troops are going to go on the march." ”

The two looked at each other, neither of them speaking again.

The grievance and helplessness on Gu Yu's face became more and more intense, almost making Li Hong breathless.

"Take care."

Li Hong no longer looked at Gu Yu, turned around and got on the horse, and walked out of the dust.

Gu Yu's tears rolled down.