Li Hong ordered Wei Zheng to return to Nulu and rushed to Handan with his troops day and night.

Li Hong did not return to Zhending, but rushed directly to the Xindu of Anping Kingdom. Jizhou Thorn Mansion is now in Xindu. Originally, the seat of the Assassin's Mansion was in Gaoyi City, but because of the war, Guo Dian moved the office to Xindu. Li Hong is here to ask for soldiers.

The new Jizhou assassin has not yet arrived. The main officials of the Assassin Prefecture are engaged in the county, Zhizhong, Beijia, Gongcao, the main book, the book, the soldier, the literature, the martial arts, and more than a dozen people went out of the city to greet them. Li Hong is now a general in the middle of the line, and he is a big official for the local state and county. Among these people, Li Hong knows the trial. The trial body has basically recovered, and he pulled Li Hong and introduced his colleagues to him one by one.

Li Hong's heart hung on the matter of 50,000 troops, and he didn't have the heart to go into the city to eat and rest. After a brief exchange of pleasantries with the officials, he went straight to the point. He wanted to recruit the Jizhou army that had already entered Zhending City.

The judge asked in surprise, "Zhending City has been defeated?" ”

Li Hong said with a smile: "If it is defeated, the other counties of Changshan Kingdom will soon be recovered." ”

After hearing the news, the people in Jizhou Mansion were excited and high-fived each other.

Li Hong waited for them to calm down, and then said: "You already know about the imperial court's requisition of 50,000 troops from Jizhou to go west to Liangzhou, and it is very difficult to complete this matter now, so I have to ask for your full support no matter what." If we don't go west as scheduled, everyone will not be able to get out of it. ”

Liang Yi, who was engaged in Zhizhong, raised a different idea, and he said loudly, "After all the troops in Jizhou are requisitioned and moved westward, there will be no troops in Jizhou." If the Yellow Turban Army is defeated from Taihang Mountain, how will Jizhou be defended? ”

Li Hong replied: "Now that the Yellow Turban Army has been dispersed, their strength has been greatly damaged, and they have no ability to invade all parts of Jizhou in the short term. After the spring ploughing began in April, the scattered displaced people were basically settled, and it was probably even more difficult for the Yellow Turbans to survive by then. After we marched westward, you immediately launched recruitment in various parts of Jizhou, which is the only way to solve the problem of shortage of soldiers in Jizhou at present. ”

Don't drive Wu Liang said worriedly: "Changshan has just been pacified, the official army has not yet gained a foothold, and the adults are in a hurry to transfer the troops, is it too hasty?" ”

Li Hong said: "I see that the troops of Cao Peng Shi Liu Bei, a soldier of Qingzhou Plain County, are very combative, you can keep him for a period of time until Changshan is stable, and then let him go back to Pingyuan County." ”

The judge then said: "If the lord repeatedly insists on requisitioning all the troops, and the lord is on a fake holiday, we can't object, but the captains of Julu County and Bohai County don't want to recruit them." They lead troops all year round, and they have rich experience in fighting and training soldiers, and leaving them to train recruits and garrison the city is also a guarantee for Jizhou. ”

Li Hong only wanted to get all the troops in Jizhou, and it didn't matter if the senior officers gave it to him or not. Li Hong immediately agreed. He then mentioned the salaries and food and grass that the troops urgently needed.

The officials in Jizhou almost complained in unison, making Li Hong's head loud. Money and food are too scarce.

Li Hong couldn't tell them, he was in a hurry, and shouted loudly: "Are you giving or not giving?" Give, I'll go back to Handan and wait; If you don't give it, I will immediately go to the Son of Heaven to sue you. ”

These people were afraid of Li Hong's threat, and they quarreled even more, and they were all red-faced, and they couldn't wait to eat Li Hong.

Yuan Hong hurriedly came out to play a round.

He said to Li Hong with a pleasant face: "Li Zhonglang doesn't know the current situation in Jizhou, it's difficult. For the time being, it is still barely enough to provide the military supplies of 10,000 Fengyun Iron Cavalry, but no more. Li Zhonglang recruited a large number of Yellow Turban prisoners into the army in Handan, which led to a huge increase in the cost of the troops, and we really couldn't afford it. ”

Li Hong had a bitter face and said helplessly: "If I don't increase my troops, where can I find 50,000 people to go to Xiliang?" Also, we have 15,000 horsemen, how did you just say that we were only paid 10,000 horses? ”

Yuan Hong immediately replied: "Didn't your lord's troops lose a lot in the Battle of Gall Tao? We have also paid the bereavement of the fallen soldiers. What do you mean by that? ”

Li Hong said solemnly: "According to the military law of the Han Dynasty, the military salary of the cavalry in wartime is three times that of the military salary in peacetime, but you have never paid us according to the military salary of the three escorts. Now I only let you add a little bit, you still have a lot of nonsense, are you bullying us people in northern Xinjiang who don't know how to count? I understand your plight, but you can't deceive people too much. If you don't want to, I'll write to you for maliciously withholding your salary. ”

A group of people stood in the cold wind, making a lot of noise, completely forgetting that they were military and political leaders in Jizhou. Li Hong stood in the middle of the crowd and kept waving his hands, his face was red and his neck was thick, and he quarreled with more than a dozen officials of the Assassin's Mansion, where was there any demeanor of a lieutenant general.

Bo Wangtai, the lord of Jizhou Mansion, spoke slowly and gracefully, and he said to Li Hong: "Li Zhonglang, we have explained to you the current situation of Jizhou's finances many times, but you have repeatedly asked for an increase in military salaries, as if you don't believe us,"

"Of course I do." Li Hong said: "Since the heroic death of Lord Mu Guo of Jizhou, Jizhou has relied on your hard support, and you have worked really hard. No matter how difficult and poor Jizhou is, it is the granary of my Han Dynasty and the treasury of my Han Dynasty. If I gather 50,000 troops in Handan next month, and you don't pay me or give me food and grass, what will you let me do? Disbanding the troops failed? ”

"For such a big action, why didn't the court give money?" Yuan Hong said angrily, "You are putting the knife on my neck now, and I can't get the money." ”

Li Hong said angrily: "There are so many wealthy families in Jizhou, can't you come to borrow a little?" , say good things and let them donate a little? The wealth of the rich in Jizhou combined, I'm afraid it's more than the treasury of the imperial court, right? ”

Wu Liang said on the side: "What is the reason? There must always be a reason to borrow money. We've borrowed it many times. ”

Li Hong said loudly: "You let them open their eyes and see, are there any rich people in Zhao Kingdom, Zhongshan Kingdom, and Changshan Kingdom now?" What good is it for the country to go to war? If the world is in turmoil, they can't even save their own lives, let alone any property? ”

Liang Yi, who was engaged in Zhizhong, sighed, "It's borrowing money again, and if we borrow it again, we can't afford to pay it back." Let's discuss and see how much more we can raise according to Li Zhonglang's suggestion? ”

The officials of the Jizhou government got together and discussed for a long time, and finally reluctantly agreed to Li Hong's request, and before April, Jizhou was responsible for providing all the money and food for the troops of the Western Expedition.

Li Hong was overjoyed and bowed down again and again to thank him. Then he immediately took his leave to the officials of the Assassin's Mansion, and he was in a hurry to return to Handan.

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The judge offered to give him a ride.

On the way, the judge told Li Hong a lot of things on the battlefield in Xiliang.

"Che cavalry general Zhang Wen is knowledgeable, loyal, mild-tempered, and has many protégés. When you arrive in Xiliang, you must have a good relationship with this person, which will definitely help you in the future. The judge said slowly: "He has a protégé named Tao Qian, who is now working as a Sima in the General's Mansion. This person once made a history of assassination in Youzhou and became a courtier. He first followed Huangfu Song to discuss Xiliang, and now he follows Zhang Wen, and he is very clear about the situation in Xiliang, so you must not offend him after you arrive in Xiliang, and you must make more friends with him. ”

Li Hong nodded and said gratefully, "Thank you, Brother Zhengnan, for the reminder." ”

The judge continued: "This person is over fifty years old, although he is an honest official and quite talented, but he is wild and uninhibited, arrogant, and has always been very unhappy in his career, so when he sees that you are so young and a Zhonglang general, I am afraid that he will not be convinced, and his words will inevitably be ugly." You must restrain yourself and your men, be patient, and don't take a sword as you did to me. ”

Li Hong smiled at him embarrassedly and said, "I know that I have a short temper, and I will change it." Is there anything else Brother Zhengnan would like to instruct? ”

The judge pondered for a while and said, "Then there is the general Dong Zhuo." The year before last, he was defeated by Zhang Jiao on the battlefield of Guangzong, not because he couldn't fight, but because he led Zhonglang's generals to fight with Lord Lu Zhi's men, so he was defeated again and again. Adults should understand why, right? ”

Li Hong nodded and said: "Lord Lu was convicted for no reason, of course his subordinates are not convinced, the troops have no morale, and whoever leads the army will be defeated and flee." ”

The judge nodded and said, "This is only one of the reasons, and the other reason is that Lu Zhi's subordinates don't listen to him at all. He rushed to the battlefield of Guangzong alone, without his familiar subordinates and soldiers, and no one to support him, let alone die for him, which was the main reason for his failure. He is a native of Longxi, Liangzhou, with a bold and cruel temperament, and outstanding scheming. When he was young, he had a close relationship with the heroes of Qiangzhong, and was famous for his heroism in Western Xinjiang. Later, he was conscripted as Cao Pengshi, a soldier of the Liangzhou Assassin Prefecture, and was stationed at the border fortress. When the first emperor was from Zhonglang, he made Zhang Huan the military Sima and fought against Qianghu. Later, he was promoted to Langzhong because of his military merits. Then he has been stationed in the border fortress, repeatedly fighting with the Qianghu and Xianbei people, and his military achievements are impressive, and after many years, he accumulated military merits and was promoted to the captain of Wuji in the Western Regions. In the past ten years, he has also learned to deal with the magnates of Luoyang, so his official fortune has been prosperous, and he has successively served as the governor of Bingzhou, the Taishou of Hedong, the general of Dongzhonglang, and the current general of Poyu. ”

The judge glanced at Li Hong and said slowly: "Does Li Zhonglang know why I said this?" ”

Li Hong said with a smile: "Brother Zhengnan wants to remind me that after I arrive in Xiliang, I must humbly ask him for advice on Xiliang's military affairs, and don't offend him." ”

The judge shook his head and said with a solemn expression: "With your qualifications and military merits, you can't compare with him at all, but you are a Zhonglang general at the age of twenty, what about him?" He is fifty years old and he is a general. So he will be very jealous of you, and he may kill you on the battlefield of Xiliang. ”

Li Hong's expression changed drastically, and he asked in surprise, "Why did he kill me?" Because I became a lieutenant general at the age of twenty? ”

The judge looked at him solemnly and said slowly: "I don't know him, I'm just analyzing this matter from the perspective of a normal person." I think there are many similarities between the two of you, you are both frontier people, both bloody and murderous, both brave and good at fighting, but you are young, lucky, gentle and pure, and even a little immature. So if he likes you, you may be friends, but if he wants to kill you, you are not his opponent at all. That's why I remind you. On the battlefield, in order to compete for military merits, generals often deceive themselves, are insidious and vicious, and dare to use any means. There are too many such things, such lessons in history, you don't know about them, right? ”

Li Hong really didn't know. He nodded his head in horror, very grateful for the reminder given to him. Li Hong didn't expect that after he arrived on the battlefield of Xiliang, in addition to fighting with the enemy, he would also have to guard against his friend's war knife. All along, he was surrounded by friends who helped him, and he had never experienced such a thing, so Li Hong didn't even think about it.

The judge continued: "Maybe I'm thinking too much, but there are too many things to say about Dong Zhuo, and his bloodshed and brutality are really sensational, and I can't help but guard against it. When you arrive in Xiliang, you must pay attention to your own safety. ”

Li Hong dismounted and bowed deeply to the judge. He was genuinely grateful to him, and only a true friend would care so much about him. The two waved goodbye.

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