Chapter 110 Commander-in-Chief
At the end of the month, late spring arrives.

It was indeed Taiyuan, and it was particularly hot now. In the green Tongwen Pavilion, cicadas were chirping, and under the snake pit, giant snakes had woken up early, but they were just coiled in the shadows, slightly raising their heads and spitting out their tongues.

In the past, there would be meat thrown down for them to enjoy, but today, their master in scholarly robes and big ears seemed to have forgotten about them.

In the pavilion, a figure stood with his hands behind his back, playing with a mask in his hands, just quietly watching the scenery outside the pavilion, looking quite comfortable.

He did not tie up his hair, but let it fall over his shoulders. The hair was scattered in front of his eyes, covering half of his eyes, revealing his fair cheeks, worthy of a son of a noble family.

However, although this man has handsome features and a dignified bearing, there is an inexplicable feminine feeling all over his body. If other people get along with him, they may feel alienated and dare not get close to him.

But soon, a friendly laughter came from far outside the pavilion.

"My second brother has been in Luzhou for a long time, and now he has returned to Taiyuan, so he came to visit Tongwenguan, which really surprised me."

Hearing the noise, the people in the pavilion turned around and saw Li Siyuan, a man in Confucian clothes and big ears, walking into the pavilion with two followers, waving a Xiuwen fan in one hand and a happy look on his face. His words were full of intimacy.

But the man in the pavilion remained expressionless. He put on his mask and called out in an operatic voice, "It's been a long time since we last met. I hope you are well, brother~"

Li Siyuan narrowed his eyes slightly and saw clearly that the color of his face was red.

Today, Li Keyong, the King of Jin, has almost stopped taking care of military affairs due to his disabled legs. In recent years, he has appointed his thirteen sons to handle most of the affairs of the Jin State. Each of them has his own duties and different abilities, so people at that time gave them the name of "Thirteen Guardians".

The man wearing the mask in front of him was the only one of the Thirteen Guardians, Li Keyong's biological son, Li Cunxu, the crown prince of Jin. Because he was good at music and particularly loved drama, he usually wore a mask and used to speak in a theatrical voice.

After so many years, Li Siyuan has been able to judge the prince's mood by his facial expressions.

In order to study Li Cunxu, he also sought out an actor to learn from him. He learned that red facial makeup in dramas often expresses positivity and friendliness, which is commonly known as "singing the red face."

Judging from the current situation, he should be in a good mood.

After a brief thought, Li Siyuan stroked his mustache and said with a smile, "I am living well in Taiyuan. But my second brother has been in Luzhou for two years and has been through many battles. He has lost a lot of weight..."

As he spoke, he waved away the attendant who wanted to make tea for the two of them, brewed a pot of tea himself, and poured a cup for Li Cunxu.

He was busy at the table like a servant, laughing: "I heard that Zhu Wen has been eyeing Luzhou covetously in the past two years, and he wants to attack it with all his strength. Why would father call my second brother back at this critical moment?"

Li Cunxu took the teacup as a matter of course, brushed aside his clothes, sat opposite Li Siyuan, snorted coldly, and sang in an old man's voice: "Zhu Wen is a traitor, licentious and tyrannical. He invaded my territory and angered my father. Sooner or later, I will capture him, sooner or later, I will kill him."

But soon, his voice returned to normal, and he said indifferently: "Brother, as the Holy Master of Tongwenguan, don't you know that Zhu Wen has deployed troops in Cangzhou and intends to harm Hebei? Zhou Dewei is staying in Luzhou, so nothing will happen."

Li Siyuan was shocked and said, "I have been busy with spring farming these past two months and have not paid attention to this matter!"

"Brother, why do you bother with these trivial matters?"

"Haha, I am only suitable for doing these things." Li Siyuan stroked his beard and said modestly, "I am not as good as you, my second brother, in expanding the territory for my adoptive father. I have to stay in Taiyuan and take care of these for my adoptive father."

Li Cunxu shook his head and sighed, as if he looked down upon farming, then took off his mask and said, "My father summoned me to send troops to Youzhou to put an end to the civil strife in the Liu family as soon as possible to prevent the Liang army. Liu Rengong rebelled that year, and my father was so angry that he could not bear it anymore. Now that his son has turned against us, it is time to regain control of Hebei."

Hearing this, Li Siyuan's hands hidden under the table tightened instantly.

But his expression did not change at all, and he asked with concern: "This is a big matter, is there anything I can help you with, brother?"

"I am returning to Taiyuan this time, and my generals are all staying in Luzhou. If we want to send troops to Hebei, I am afraid we are still short of a few men."

Li Cunxu tapped his facial mask and sang with his fingers: "Brother, you have a library full of talented people. Why don't you lend me a few helpers?"

"Hahaha, what else can I do as a brother? I actually asked my second brother to make a special trip for this matter." Li Siyuan waved his hand nonchalantly and said, "Then send the ninth and tenth brothers to follow my second brother to the expedition to Hebei."

After that, he remembered something and added, "How about taking the five hundred Flying Tiger Cavalry under the command of the tenth brother with you, second brother?"

"Brother, you are so generous. I am so grateful." Li Cunxu stood up, raised the cup with both hands, and drank the tea in one gulp to express his gratitude.

Li Siyuan waved his hands and laughed.

"You and I are brothers, let's not talk about this."

Li Cunxu pinched his fingers and sang: "Coming back from Hebei, I will naturally ask for credit for my elder brother~"

After that, he stopped being polite, expressed his gratitude briefly, and prepared to leave with his hands behind his back.

But immediately, he suddenly stopped and turned his head to look.

"I heard that Big Brother sent some people to Youzhou at the beginning of the year?"

Li Siyuan was just getting up to see him off when he paused, but he showed no sign of surprise. He just smiled and said, "It is true. My brother has a good son-in-law who is old acquaintance with Liu Shouguang. I thought that sending him to negotiate might yield some results. I never thought that my foster father had already made plans. Now that my second brother has taken action, how can Hebei not be conquered?"

Li Cunxu nodded slightly and walked away with his hands behind his back.

"It's better for Big Brother not to interfere in some matters."

After hearing this, Li Siyuan just laughed it off, then picked up the mask on the table and called out kindly, "Second brother, you forgot to take your little stuff with you."

The latter did not even turn his head and spoke in a calm tone.

"I have plenty of gadgets, keep them for fun, brother."

His steps were so fast that he disappeared from the trail in almost the blink of an eye.

Looking at the direction he left, Li Siyuan stroked his mustache and narrowed his eyes.

An attendant stepped forward with a joyful look and congratulated him, "Your Highness now has a deep brotherly relationship with the Holy Lord. The Holy Lord's show of weakness over the past two years has obviously paid off..."

It would have been better if this person didn't say anything. As soon as he spoke, the former's expression immediately darkened, "Idiot."

"Why did this guy come here today to ask for help?"

"Your Highness, our prince, you are just here to hit me."

After hearing this, the attendant's face changed and he dared not say anything more.

Li Siyuan played with the mask and slowly walked to the snake pit and looked down.

Inside the huge pit, many snakes crawled out with their tongues spitting out.

"Can you find out whether the fake Bal incident is related to the prince?"

"I went to the Central Plains on purpose, but found no traces of the prince..." The attendant bowed his head, crossed his arms and saluted, saying, "In my opinion, the prince is such an arrogant person, he would not resort to such means."

The atmosphere around them suddenly became tense.

The attendant also realized that he had said something wrong, and immediately explained: "What I meant is..."

But before he finished his words, his whole body was suddenly lifted up by an invisible force.

“Holy Lord, Holy Lord! Ah…”

He was thrown into the snake pit without mercy. The giant snakes that were still quiet around him suddenly went crazy, twisting and pouncing. In just a moment, the tiny human figure was already entangled by snakes of all sizes.

"If it's not him, then it's you."

Li Siyuan squinted his eyes, raised his hand to put on the mask, but found that it could not cover his face.

He then sighed and threw it into the snake pit.

"It's really annoying."

Then, his figure moved away from the snake pit and went outside.

"Someone, call the sixth brother."

------

------

As summer approaches, heavy rain pours down again, covering the entire sky and earth in white and making nothing visible.

The Ju River, which meandered down from the Qinghui Ridge in Xinglong, began to rise slowly and violently. It was no longer as calm as before, but was rolling with turbid waves in the wind and rain.

The Beishui River is located to the west of Yuyang, with Pinglu Canal and Quanzhou Canal in between. It is a navigable river. During the late Han Dynasty and the Cao Wei period, military supplies from the Central Plains could be transported through it to the Great Wall, making it a strategic route. In addition, civilian goods such as salt, grain, tea, etc. also came from Lutai (today's Tianjin) to the south through it and could be sent all the way to Tanzhou.

Therefore, the ferry crossing on the entire river has always been prosperous, with more than ten barges traveling back and forth every day, and there are also nearby trackers and others serving them.

On the east bank of the Beishui River, several strategic locations had sentry posts set up, and all the boatmen and post boats were detained and not allowed to travel back and forth at will. The troops were led by a Mobei Qushuai and a junior officer under Liu Shouwen.

In addition to the hundreds of guards under their command, there was also a small number of Yan natives in the outposts.

Since he came south from Mobei, Liu Shouwen swept away the trend of defeat. In addition to recruiting the defeated tribesmen, he also attacked, threatened and extorted the powerful people and villages in Liaodong and even near Yuyang, forcing them to join the army and supply military supplies to ensure his comeback. So in just this short month, he immediately gathered a team of 30,000 strong men, and the rest were old and weak, and there were countless others who were at his disposal.

News had come from the east that Liu Shouwen had already claimed to be the governor of Youzhou, saying that after defeating Liu Shouguang, he would welcome Liu Rengong back to the post of governor. But no one knew what he was thinking.

In such windy and rainy weather, the Mobei people, as the strong reinforcements left behind, were unwilling to leave their huts, and the battalion of soldiers sent by Liu Shouwen, who claimed to be elite, were also unwilling to stand guard in the rain.

Therefore, several dangerous places were handed over to these newly enlisted young soldiers.

They were called strong men, and indeed there was nothing else besides strong men. The entire newly formed camp actually had 232 men, and there were still 18 vacancies. Not to mention whether they had mounts, they didn't even have a complete set of armor. Apart from dozens of bows and a sword and spear for each person, there was nothing else.

It was because Liu Shouwen gritted his teeth and spent a lot of money to invite Mobei to move south.

Several towns in Hebei can indeed be called wealthy. There are dozens of military equipment depots alone. When they are victorious, the armor-clad rate of the entire army can exceed 60%, making them well-known and powerful vassal states in the world.

But this time, just to get Yelu Abaoji to come south for support, Liu Shouwen generously donated more than 10,000 sets of armor, several thousand battle robes, and countless other military equipment. It can be said that he emptied his family's fortune.

Moreover, in order to supply the more than 20,000 cavalrymen in Mobei, he plundered the area around Yuyang, and the people seemed to have become refugees.

Even Liu Shouwen was so poor, so it was no wonder that the soldiers in the battalion were so shabby.

At least, there are still swords and spears, right?
The overwhelming downpour soaked me completely, my face was wet and my eyes were blurry so I could hardly see.

Tian Daocheng wiped his face, stood by the river with a wooden face, staring blankly at the opposite bank.

There should have been several villages and some unharvested winter wheat fields to the west of the Beishui River. But now all the houses were in ruins, and had been completely ravaged. In recent days, the Mobei barbarians in the camp had crossed the river many times and robbed almost all of the few savings in the villages. In addition, they also abducted a group of women to serve as their camp prostitutes.

As for the men, those who resisted were killed, and those who did not resist were taken back to the Yuyang camp. If they were not dead after the battle, they would be taken back outside the pass and become slaves for generations.

It was a pity that there was still a battalion of elite troops sent by Liu Shouwen. Faced with the atrocities committed by the people of Mobei, they dared not even fart.

Therefore, up to now, the entire river bank has almost become a dead place. Apart from these soldiers, there is no living person.

"Brother Tian."

Someone followed from behind, stood beside him, and said angrily: "Those barbarians have started again..."

Tian Daocheng naturally understood what he was talking about. It was raining so heavily today, and the people of Mobei were living in shacks. They would definitely do something outrageous to the women who were abducted into the camp.

But apart from subconsciously clenching his fists and getting angry for a moment, he had no other choice but to sigh heavily and turn his head away.

"Brother Tian, ​​are you still willing to continue like this?"

The people who followed him gnashed their teeth and said, "These dogs are worse than animals. They are just taking advantage of the power of others and letting Liu Shouwen, that bastard, in. They are lucky enough to run wild in our territory! If we count back a hundred years, it is not certain who will bully whom!"

At this point, he lowered his voice, looked around, and fiercely pressed the handle of the knife, "Why don't we rebel? You are the leader, and everyone obeys you. There are more than 200 of us, so we can definitely take a bite of their flesh! If we continue to be so cowardly, how can we be worthy of these suffering Yandi elders!"

Tian Daocheng was almost instantly moved, and when he turned around, he found that many people had quietly surrounded him, with cold expressions on their faces, clearly prepared.

Seeing that everyone looked at him eagerly, he almost agreed immediately, but then his throat went dry, his hand gripping the knife handle loosened, and he shook his head dejectedly.

"We are happy with this incident. But what about our family who are still imprisoned in Yuyang?"

When these words were spoken, everyone was stunned, and then the momentum slowly dissipated.

Even the person who had been instigating the movement fell silent.

There are many chivalrous people in Yan area. Almost every one of them has some military force and comes from various villages and fortresses in Liaodong.

But Liu Shouwen and the army of Mobei were coming in droves. It was easy to deal with the big and powerful fortresses by sending some hostages and some money, but how could the small fortresses and villages where they came from be able to stop a chariot?

All family members, young and old, were taken to the camp, and then they were selected and organized into a new camp of young and strong men who could be used at will.

It can be said that Liu Shouwen did not give them any chance to rebel.

Everyone was discouraged and dispersed dejectedly, standing in the rain, enduring this humiliating life caused by the barbarians.

"If Liu Shouguang wins..."

Tian Daocheng wiped the rain again and muttered.

"Win?"

The man next to him sneered, "Does the Liu family father and son have any good qualities? Our little one is being held in Yuyang, and no matter who wins or loses, it won't be a good thing!"

Tian Daocheng remained silent.

He couldn't even guarantee that his own home was small, was it really safe?

Just pray.

I hope those generals will keep their promise and release their families if they win the battle...

Under my feet, the river water was surging and turbid.

It seemed as if the only sound in my ears was the noisy river water, and the floating bridge upstream was swaying up and down along the river.

pontoon?

Tian Daocheng was shocked. This floating bridge was built by the people from Mobei when they crossed the river. Logically, it should have been demolished immediately, but for various reasons, it has been left until today.

If someone attacks from the west, it would be a bad thing.

However, will someone really come from the west?
After hesitating for a while, Tian Daocheng called a few people and prepared to go up and dismantle the floating bridge first.

No matter who wins or loses, it's not a good thing for him.

But right now, Liu Shouwen holds the chips and he dares not gamble.

But when he picked up the long pole and was about to hook out a small boat under the floating bridge, he looked up and suddenly saw a knight standing on the other side of the floating bridge.

The knight was wearing an iron helmet, the red tassel on the helmet was completely soaked and stuck to the helmet. He was wearing a half-length soft leaf iron armor with shoulder armor leaves, and a breastplate on his chest, which was washed shiny by the rain.

Just by standing there quietly, an irresistible chill emanated from him.

Tian Daocheng was subconsciously shocked, but his eyes instantly met the knight's gaze. Even though they were several feet apart, he still noticed that those eyes seemed to be completely emotionless.

The next moment, the knight kicked his horse hard and rushed forward.

It was at this moment that everyone reacted. Some used hooks to hook the boats, while others turned around and took spears to fight off the enemy.

But before they could shout, the rider suddenly jumped to the side of the river, and with a clang, a Tang sword was pointed at Tian Daocheng's neck.

Everyone was shocked and dared not say a word.

Even Tian Daocheng was still in a daze.

On his mount, the knight's armor was dripping with rainwater, and his Tang sword was filled with murderous intent.

Under the iron helmet, there was a bronze mask, but the voice that came out was that of a young man.

"Are you the Han people who were coerced?"

"Yes, yes..." The person next to him was afraid that if he answered slowly, Tian Daocheng's head would be in danger, so he answered immediately with a trembling voice.

"Lead the way."

The knight immediately put away his sword, as if he was not afraid of their backlash, and rode forward indifferently.

"He who still considers himself a Han Chinese and has a trace of blood in his veins will follow."

"I will lead you to kill the mixed barbarians."

Everyone was shocked and looked at each other subconsciously. But before they were over their surprise, they heard another noise behind them.

Looking back, they were horrified to see that in the rain and fog, behind the iron cavalry, countless figures on horseback emerged like ghosts.

These figures, each wearing fine armor and weapons, the red tassels on their iron helmets were as red as blood, breaking the heavy rain.

They all remained silent and rode their horses across the swaying floating bridge.

Then.

The rumbling of horses' hooves sounded like thunder as they charged into the camp behind the Beishui River.

(End of this chapter)