On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the people and gentry of Luoyang were all happy and happy as their families, but for the soldiers of the northern frontier, this day was no different from other times. The weather is still cold, and some soldiers themselves do not have much clothing for the winter, so they prefer to hide in the fort or house to avoid the wind in this weather.

But on this day, as the commander of the Chinese army, Lin Zhan personally inspected below, seeing that the Xianbei people were about to invade the south, Lin Zhan inspected the border defense and also conveyed a message, even if it was cold and winter, he should always pay attention to the situation outside Beiguan, and be ready to take up arms to fight with the Xianbei people at any time.

Lin Zhan inspected the Beiguan Defense, are rebuilt after the Xianbei people invaded south, many places were seriously damaged by the Xianbei people, even in winter, when it is sunny, there is still a need for local people and craftsmen to repair, the mottling of the city wall also shows that the city wall has been repaired many times in the past two years, just like a patch on clothes, tinkering for another year. Lin Zhan also knew that if the current Xianbei cavalry was strong and strong, it would be impossible to completely resist the Xianbei cavalry with Beiguan.

"General, the city defense has been inspected, do you want to turn back?" After inspecting a section of the city defense, his generals came over to pay homage to Lin Zhan.

Lin Zhan looked up at the sky, the moon was already in the middle of the sky, and it was almost midnight. He really shouldn't stay too long at such a time, and it was more than an hour to return to the Chinese army camp from here, but he was already a little tired.

"Stay here and return to the camp tomorrow."

As soon as Lin Zhan gave the order, the soldiers who came out with him meant that they would spend the night under the defense of Beiguan. Camping is a matter of course for the soldiers of Beiguan, who often go out to fight and may have to face the wind and eat at any time, and it is not easy to have a tent to shelter from the wind and rain.

Although Lin Zhan was now the marshal of the Wei Dynasty, he had three or four hundred thousand soldiers and civilians in Beiguan under his command to listen to him. But he is still very low-key, and he only brought some relatives with him this time. He still has a lot of confidence in the Beiguan he guards, according to his own words, if he himself has to worry about being attacked by the Xianbei people in his own defense area, then it will be even more difficult for the people to live.

As the tent was set up, there was a bonfire immediately. Because of its proximity to Beiguan. Originally, it was not allowed to light a bonfire. But it was still calm outside Beiguan, and Lin Zhan himself was a little cold, so he let people make a fire, and at the same time let his guards go to Beiguan to take over with the soldiers, so that the soldiers could come down to bake the fire and rest.

Lin Zhan also brought some supplies, which were very needed by the front-line soldiers, and the clothes for the winter could not be prepared in large quantities, but they sent a lot of firewood, and at the same time there were some quilts for the winter. These were all just shipped from Beichuan Castle. In order for the soldiers of Beiguan to survive the winter, the imperial court can be regarded as smashing pots and selling iron, and almost all the resources that can be mobilized are transferred to Beiguan, and even the soldiers stationed in Guanzhong cannot be treated like this.

"General......

A group of veterans had just come down from the city, and they had been on the walls for half the night, and some of them had frozen hands. Walking over, I was suddenly smoked by the warmth of the bonfire, and many people are not used to it. Lin Zhan added some firewood to the campfire. At the same time, let people spread mats on the ground, saying, "It's too cold this day." When you come down, roast it before the campfire, and go up again after half an hour. ”

"General Xie." A group of people sat down in a scattered manner, some of whom had not changed their military uniforms for a long time. Although the imperial court prepared three sets of military uniforms for each soldier, after all, the situation and environment in the north were more difficult than Luoyang imagined. In the winter, when the water is dripping into ice, the military uniforms on the soldiers are almost impossible to change, and the basic sanitary conditions are difficult to achieve. Fortunately, in winter, soldiers are not easy to get sick, and there are a lot of medicinal herbs for those who have some wind and cold. In the past two years, there has been a shortage of others in the army, but the supply of medicinal materials has been maintained in sufficient quantities.

"General, how did you come to see me? We haven't seen a big official for a long time. "A veteran in his forties has a mouth that is not very neat, and his mouth is still leaking when he smiles.

Lin Zhan said with a smile: "I came just to take a look at the situation of the soldiers in front of me, and I should be a condolence." You don't need to be a general, in fact, I'm here to garrison Beiguan just like you. ”

While he was talking, some of the guards came over and brought raw meat to roast. Lin Zhan is a general after all, and the materials he brought out this time also include some meat food that the northern soldiers are eager to wear, although the soldiers have a few fixed meat meals every month, but after the winter, the meat food is much less. Because the raising of military and civilian livestock around Beichuan is very problematic, in winter, many domestic animals cannot grow quickly, and some small places have all hidden livestock. The main reason is that there are rioters around Beichuan, and it is easy to be looted by rioters.

Seeing the meat food, the soldiers were refreshed.

During the barbecue, the people around the bonfire were full of interest, and Lin Zhan asked about the situation of some people, and these soldiers did not hide their explanations.

By the time they started, each soldier would almost get a piece of cooked meat, and although it couldn't fill his stomach, it was almost the same as eating half full. Lin Zhan brought several truckloads of meat on this trip, all of which had just been transported from Beichuan City, because the weather was cold, and he was not afraid that the meat would rot on the road.

"Leave some for them, the soldiers of Beiguan are really hard work, and no one can lose my comrades."

Lin Zhan's words moved all the soldiers who were eating cooked meat. They were stationed in Beiguan, and they still couldn't return south until the reunion festival, especially some of the children and soldiers of Jiangdu, many of whom had been in the north for two years, and their parents, wives and children at home still didn't know what the situation was. It is strictly forbidden in the army to write letters back to their hometowns in private, but it is not completely forbidden, and the soldiers only have the opportunity to find someone to write letters to their families almost once a quarter, many of them are illiterate, but they only bring their own safety back, and the situation at home is impossible to spread to the front line of Beiguan.

"When spring begins, if you can get through it, you can go back to your hometown." Lin Zhan said before these soldiers were about to return to the city to keep vigil, "The king of the east has sent a new group of soldiers over, so you can return to your hometown in fine clothes, and you will be given land and wealth." ”

Hearing this, many young homesick soldiers seemed to have spirits. came out to fight, firstly, to make meritorious contributions. But it is too difficult to make contributions on the battlefield, and the most realistic thing is the military salary and food salary, fortunately, these courts are basically never in arrears, and the soldiers also have money to mail back with the family letter. If you go back and have a field this time, it will be a great encouragement for the soldiers, because many soldiers have been tenant farmers since birth. The hope of a lifetime is to have your own land that can be passed on from generation to generation.

A group of soldiers were sent away, and a new group of soldiers came down to roast and rest and eat meat.

Lin Zhan was enthusiastic and encouraging every time, originally Lin Zhan still had to rest, but until dawn, he still didn't have time to sleep. The guards next to him were also a little distressed, and Lin Zhan in their eyes seemed to be the backbone of the entire Beiguan and the backbone of the people of the Central Plains. If this backbone collapses, they really don't know who can still carry the banner of the Beiguan garrison, and now the Xianbei barbarians have gathered outside the Beiguan. There will be a possibility of an invasion from the south at any time, and at that time, Lin Zhan must come out to preside over the overall situation.

"General, let's rest more, and we'll go back to the camp." When it was almost dawn, Lin Zhan stood up, and his whole person was still in good spirits. But the soldiers under his command knew that Lin Zhan hadn't had a good rest for two days and two nights. "There's still a long way to go, and we've got a long way to go. That's it. ”

After Lin Zhan finished speaking, the guards didn't even know whether the "this road" that Lin Zhan said was the road to continue to inspect the customs defense, or the road that guarded the north pass and could not return. In the north, the conditions are very difficult, and many places are deserted. For tens of years, the people around Beiguan have long moved south, and the closer to Beiguan, the easier it is to be looted by the Xianbei people, and even if it is a peaceful year. The looting of the Xianbei people has never stopped.

Towards morning, the sky began to snow. Lin Zhan looked at the sky before entering the camp tent, suddenly sighed, and muttered: "This snow, I don't know how many soldiers will suffer!" ”

……

……

The north is a snow country, while in the south Jinling City, it is a peaceful and lively atmosphere.

On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the lantern festival in Jinling City is very lively, and it is like this for several days. Jinling City has always been very stable, even if there is turmoil in the court, but basically did not affect the lives of ordinary people, and so the turmoil in the court has passed, Jinling City is as stable as ever, as long as there is no invasion of foreign enemies, this is a pure land. In fact, Jinling City has not experienced a major war for more than a hundred years.

And in King Hui's mansion, King Hui is holding a banquet for the Shangyuan Festival. On the fifteenth night of the first lunar month, officials gathered in King Hui's mansion to drink and admire the moon together.

King Hui himself was drunk like mud, and only went inside to rest with the help of his attendants. Sima Yi stayed outside and continued to entertain guests, saying that he was going to entertain guests, but in fact he was only a guest of the western seat in King Hui's mansion, and he was just sitting on the side, and people would keep coming to toast him. Although Sima Yi's relationship with King Hui has been a little estranged recently, everyone knows that he is the number one adviser under King Hui and should not be underestimated.

"Zhu Tongjing will send someone to Jinling tomorrow to meet the Son of Heaven." Just as Sima was about to go inside to rest, an attendant suddenly came over and brought the news.

In the past few months, there has been very little news from Zhu Tongjing. In the Qi Dynasty court, he was forced to reconcile with Zhu Tongjing, and Zhu Tongjing became the new king of Linjiang, and the war in the Jiangjiang generation was eliminated. However, the imperial court still sent soldiers and horses to Jiang and Jiangxi to be on guard at any time, originally Sima Yu was to follow as a strategist in the army, but perhaps King Hui felt that Sima Yu could not help him, so Sima Yu stayed in Jinling City to listen to King Hui's dispatch.

"Is the news true?" Sima frowned. I hadn't heard a single wind before.

You must know that Sima Yi's control of the situation in the army is more detailed than that of Xiao Ling, the king of Hui, how could he not know that Zhu Tongjing sent someone? There are only two explanations for this, either King Hui deliberately concealed the matter from him, but with his understanding of King Hui, King Hui did not have such a deep city, and even if he did, it was impossible for Sima to not detect it in advance by his eyes in the army. Then it can only be the second explanation, Zhu Tongjing sent people this time, he sent people secretly, probably skipping the system of King Hui's Mansion and communicating directly with the imperial court. That is what kind of collusion between the new empress Xiao Zhan and Zhu Tongjing is in secret.

This is not a good thing for King Hui's mansion.

After Empress Xiao Zhan ascended the throne, she was in favor of King Hui, after all, it was King Hui who put her on the throne, Xiao Zhan reciprocated the favor and almost handed over the military and political power of the entire Southern Dynasty to Xiao Ling, which is similar to the nature of the dictatorship of the Eastern King in the Northern Dynasty. But Xiao Ling, the king of Hui, obviously does not have the courage of Han Jian to monopolize power, Xiao Ling nominally controls the military and political power, but in fact, he has no intention of doing this at all, he is more about having more pleasure, and even drinking with beauties is much more interesting than participating in those military and political affairs. Sima Yi also admonished, but with little effect, indulging in pleasure is the nature of King Hui, which was passed on to him by the old King Hui, even if King Hui had also experienced a life of worry, but once he returned to a life of drunkenness, he got carried away.

"Have you ever communicated with King Hui?" Sima thought of Xiao Ling in his heart, so he couldn't help but sigh and asked.

This is really Adou who can't be supported, in the history of this era, Zhuge Liang ousted Adou who couldn't be supported from power and became the emperor himself. Sima Yu naturally did not have Zhuge Liang's ambitions, but he still had a lot of dissatisfaction with this King Hui. But he won't complain, now King Hui's status is completely pushed up by someone because of the situation, if Xiao Ling is allowed to choose by himself, he would rather not care about anything and be the free prince himself.

"It didn't make sense." The person who came was a little helpless and said, "King Hui is having a banquet with people today, and the next few times I want to get close to tell me about it, I can't." ”

"Let's go, let's go with me to King Hui." Sima stood up and said.

"This ......" the person who came was still a little embarrassed, "King Hui has already entered...... I'm afraid it's not appropriate. ”

It's not appropriate, because King Hui went in to have fun with the beauty and complete the second half of his banquet. Perhaps entertaining guests outside was not what King Hui was fond of, so he just went inside half drunk. Since Xie Rumo's women were sent to King Hui's mansion, King Hui has been a little forgetful, and he is with those beauties almost every day, just like he wants to be the monarch of the dead country, and he can even ignore the outside affairs.

"The thieves have sent people to the backyard, how can there be so many taboos?"

Sima said angrily and went to the mansion of King Hui. The entourage behind him was a little helpless, he knew very well that Sima Yi was not valued by the king now, because Sima Yi was "unacquainted" many times. You must know that when Zhu Tongjing reconciled with the imperial court, Sima also single-handedly facilitated. For this reason, King Hui has always been obsessed, and now even if Sima borrows to talk about Zhu Tongjing, I am afraid that he will be turned away. (To be continued......)