"Journey to the West"

Author: Scarlet Polyp

Chapter Twenty-Four: The Inheritance of the Fierce General

Youzhou, the northern border of Beiping County, Lulongsai.

Lulongsai, formerly known as Songting Pass, was built in the early Han Dynasty, and was the key point for the Han Dynasty to guard the northern frontier and deter Xianbei, Goguryeo, and Fuyu countries, and has always been a place where soldiers must fight. Thirty years ago, Li Hong, the first minister of Zhongxing in the Han Dynasty and the well-known Marquis of Jinyang at home, was born here, and began his life of dominating the world from Lu Longsai.

Since the Han Dynasty pacified northern Xinjiang, this sunset of the world's Xiongguan has gradually become a trading and distribution center for Mobei, Liaodong and the Central Plains counties. Tea, salt, silk, cloth, and utensils from the south, fur, gold, silver, game, and medicinal herbs from the East, and horses, livestock, and dried mushrooms from the north all converge here. After a long period of war, Lulongsai continued to expand and become a large city, and after the northern Xinjiang calmed down, it gradually attracted a large number of people to gather, and at this time it has changed from a simple military fortress to a large population of Tongdu Dayi. The people of the time commented on Lu Longsai and said: "The inner arch is Xiongguan, the north looks at Yanshan, between the surface and the inside, the radius is ten miles, the dragon and the tiger are long, and the shape is victorious" and said: "The merchants of the four directions are diverging, flowing and gathering, traveling for thousands of miles, looking at the paradise."

When Li Hong first arrived in Lulong, he saw the "day" shaped defense system composed of three city walls, which is now gone, replaced by a larger "Hui" shaped city wall, as for the city walls on the mountains on both sides, it stretches for nearly 300 miles. The auxiliary wall and the outer main wall, which were used as the first line of defense, have now been built into an outer wall with a height of six zhang, a width of three zhang, and a length of 500 zhang. Outside the walls is the outer city, mainly houses and markets; The walls are divided into two sides: on the east side are scattered military barracks, stables, workshops, and various warehouses, and on the west side are government offices, government schools, and post houses. The original Lulong Tower in the city has been demolished, and the inner wall of the same height as the outer wall has been built near the old site, in addition to the internal wall with the general line of Duliao and the residence of the commander of Lu Longsai, a large part of it has been rebuilt into the other business of the Marquis of Jinyang and the eldest princess, and there are pavilions and gardens built on the court.

In the outer city of Lulongse, between the downtown areas, there is a famous "Tianma Inn".

The owner of this inn is a member of the Xianbei Tuoba Department, with a single name. Tuoba Hui came to Lulongsai eight years ago with a few animal skins to start from scratch, relying on the unique tenacity of the Xianbei people and the east wind brought by the prosperity of Lulongsai, the business has done well. Now he occupies three two-story storefronts on the most prosperous street in the outer city of Lulongsai, and most of the Xianbei guests who come and go to Lulong are willing to stop in his Tianma Inn, enjoy the unique flavor of Daxianbei Mountain wine and barbecue, and exchange what they have seen and heard in the north and south. The strong popularity and thoughtful service have also attracted many guests from the Central Plains and Liaodong to stay here.

At this time, the shopkeeper Tuoba Hui was walking out of the door of the store with a smile on his face, opening his arms to meet an old man with a red face.

"Good luck with mushrooms! My brother. ”

"The warehouse is full of dried meat, and it went all the way, right?"

The old man and the shopkeeper hugged each other affectionately, patted each other on the shoulder, and after entering the shop together, they sat down in a private room, where fine wine and several large plates of beef and mutton were prepared. After the guests sat down, the two chatted while drinking.

The visiting spirited old man is a friend of Tuoba Hui in the same tribe, with a single name. Tuoba Kui has been engaged in horse trafficking in the north and south all the year round, and has accumulated a lot of wealth over the years, and his horse team has dozens of Xianbei heroes to help him, with wide knowledge, many friends, and is bold and strong, and has a high reputation in the Tuoba Department.

After the two exchanged a few words, Tuoba Hui asked, "How many horses did you bring this time?" ”

"A hundred of them, hey, all good three-year-olds!" Tuoba Kui talked about his own livelihood, and immediately his eyebrows danced, "This year, the heavenly horse god blesses, there is no disaster and no disease, these horse cubs eat grass for half a year, grow a race and a sturdy, look beautiful, high shoulders and long legs, run like the wind, as long as a little training, than the big Wan horse is not inferior to ......"

"Okay, okay, you can't stop talking about this, you won't come this time to sell your treasures, right?"

"Oh, this time, I also sent more than a dozen descendants from our clan to the academy. Now the little cubs don't want to stay on the grassland to find food when they reach their age, and they want to run to the city one by one with their necks stretched. But what can be done? That's the number of people set by the official school every year, except for the children of the head, of course, the others have to pick the smart! If you can't choose, there are still people hiding in the tent and crying, his grandmother's, the descendants of our Pegasus God, have always shed blood without tears! It's really not as good as the generation. Speaking of this, the old man Tuoba shook his head, and his face showed a very disapproving look.

Tuoba Hui scolded with a smile: "You old guy, you get cheap and sell well." Didn't that little guy in your family choose to enter the lecture hall after studying in Lu Longsai for a few years of official school? Now that I'm out of business, I've heard that I'm going to be a Dub, right? ”

"It's the tooth keeper!" When the old man Tuoba talked about his son, his chin suddenly rose high, his nostrils were rough, and his mouth was almost to his ears, "Xiao Yan just came back with the news a few days ago, he is not bad in the Western Army now, he has hundreds of men and horses under his command, and he can't hang up the first few horses, good boy!" I didn't lose the face of our topography department! ”

"Congratulations, that's amazing. The tooth gate will go up a little further, isn't it the captain of the two thousand stones? In such a big situation inside and outside of Lulongsei, the chief officer is also a captain. When the little guy comes back, we, the elders, are afraid that we will call him an adult! ”

"How can it, even if he becomes a general in the future, isn't he still a little cub from our Tuoba Department? If you dare to see someone take a big one, see that I, the father, don't whip him with a horsewhip! Tuoba Lao Han thought to himself while bragging, his son became an official of the court, and he was afraid that he would not be able to smoke it in the future, so he didn't care about him, anyway, his son had a chance, and he also had a lot of face in the clan. So he took a sip of wine, wiped his mouth, approached Tuoba Hui and whispered, "There is another thing, I heard...... Does that lord live in the city now? ”

Tuoba Hui smiled: "You are very good!" The lord had returned from the hottest part of the summer, and had been living in Louronse for a few months, and had brought with him some ladies and little princesses. ”

"Heh, that's really ......" Tuoba Old Man rubbed his hands excitedly, "If I can meet his old man and kowtow a few times in person, then I won't come in vain." ”

"Haha, how can ordinary people see his old man's face, and most of the adults who want to see him are blocked - saying that they no longer care about state affairs. But I've heard that after the adult came, he often went to Meilou (the arrow tower built on Meishan) to look into the distance, and if you want to have this heart, kowtow to Meishan. ”

Meishan, Meilou.

A tall and majestic-looking middle-aged man was standing upstairs at this time, dressed in a cloth shirt, holding the guardrail in one hand and a girl carved in pink in the other, silently looking at the clouds in the distance.

"Daddy, you come here every day to watch the clouds, what's so fun, Ping'er thinks it's so boring. Why don't you take Ping'er for horseback riding? ”

The man's face showed a doting expression, and he scratched his daughter's delicate nose, "Didn't you just ride it yesterday?" Your mother told you to study etiquette articles hard, to look like a princess, why do you want to play all day long? ”

The little girl was "taught" by her father, and her big eyes suddenly became foggy: "But, but, Sister Xiu'er became the queen, don't you always play?" When she was in Chang'an, Sister Xiu'er also taught Ping'er to ride a horse, that red pony was so beautiful, but her mother didn't let Ping'er take it back to Jinyang, which was annoying. ”

"Oh? Xiu'er is still so messing around? Then you should learn from Wen'er, girls should be quieter. ”

"Don't!"

The father and daughter were talking happily, and a guard came up from downstairs, knelt down on one knee behind the two of them and said: "Hou Ye, Hexi Xianbei Bu Du is more, Tuoba Tao in the north, Kirby Bear in the east and Shooting Tiger in the south are asking to see each other outside the mansion, saying that they are not talking about state affairs, but just want to say goodbye to Hou Ye in person and talk about family affairs." ”

"These guys are really not giving up." The man waved his hand, "No, let's just say that I was occasionally infected with the wind and cold and was unwell." I'll talk about it when I'm cured. ”

The guards left as they said, and the man smiled, as if he was talking to himself: "The younger generation is attacking the city in the Western Regions, and the emperor is going south to sweep away the remnants, which seems to have scared this group of pampered guys a lot." In fact, if you want to be good, why do you come to me? Isn't it better to go directly to the emperor to plead his case, this group of people is always short-sighted! ”

"It's not a good thing to be short-sighted, otherwise how could the big man shock them so easily." There was a soft sound on the stairs that seemed to be without human fireworks.

"Mother!" The little girl quickly climbed down from her father, ran to a ********'s side and said coquettishly, "Ping'er is not lazy, I have memorized those articles today!" The little girl rolled her eyes slyly, and her back was back, but she didn't say that she must have a familiar back.

The beautiful woman touched her daughter's head lovingly, and said to the man, "Husband, do you really never ask about state affairs again?" Your body has been recuperating for a few years, but it's much better. The emperor is still young, and now the country is not peaceful, and the soldiers are everywhere, this Han Dynasty always has a place to rely on you. ”

"I know you can't put it down." The man hugged his wife into his arms and said in a deep voice, "But I was shot in the crotch and has been handed over to the young man." What they can do in the future depends on what they do. My lifelong career as a horse has been inherited. ”

"If the emperor decrees that you will be reinstated, so what?"

"Hehe, although the emperor is young, he is a holy lord, and he can naturally understand my thoughts. We are now living leisurely in northern Xinjiang, and by the way, we have done our duty, as for the future ......" The middle-aged man stroked his wife's smooth side face and said with a smile, "Xiao'er, I hope you can have a few more children for me, and we will be happy as a family, isn't that great?" Let young people fight the burden of the world! ”

This beautiful woman, who once held the power of the world for several years, listened to her husband's words, blushed like a little girl, and buried herself in her husband's arms, yes, as long as she can be with her husband, she will be satisfied, and the affairs of the country and the world will be left to Shuo'er to worry about, he is so young and promising now, and he can also explain to his hard-working brother.

In the Western Regions, 100 miles southeast of Wusun Chigu City, in Wensu (now Wensu County, Aksu Prefecture, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region).

"Kill!" Zhao Guang plunged his spear into the throat of the enemy general on the opposite side and picked him off his horse. After drawing his gun and shaking the blood, he looked around, and most of the brothers in his team had finished their battles, and were already tying up the captives and preparing to retreat.

It was a familiar encounter for a few days. From the beginning of October, there were sporadic Kushan defeats on the west bank of the Khotanese River, and by the middle of the month, there were even many small groups of 100 defeated troops. Gao Shun keenly grasped the fighter, and the battle situation in Qiuzi has changed! After he and Guan Ping combined, he sent Zhao Guang and others to intercept and kill these defeated soldiers in several ways with 800 cavalry, and capture the prisoners, so as to obtain the movement of the Kushan army and wait for the opportunity to chase the dead and chase the north.

Tuoba Feng beat the horse over, and Shi Li said: "My lord, this group of Kushan people has a total of 276 people, and they have all been wiped out, 270 killed, 6 captured, and there is no trace of enemy soldiers within a radius of ten miles nearby. In addition to a high-ranking officer among the captives, there are also a few Wensu people who have been coerced by the army, and there should be some gains to bring back. Please show me! ”

"Good!" Zhao Guang nodded, "Simply clean up the battlefield, Lao Luo, you lead a team of people to send these prisoners back to the camp first." ”

Luo An agreed, put the war knife on his shoulder, and said leisurely: "These Guishan cubs are now retreating to the west one by one, and it seems that the rabbit's tail can't grow." ”

"Yes, it seems that the battle of Qiuzi has finally been won by the Great Han." Zhao Guang looked into the distance, and his heart was stirred: What is the battle situation ahead? Are the Kushan people completely defeated? It would be great if we could find out the movements of the main force of the Kushan Army now, and we would be able to avenge the death of Brother Pao Ze immediately.