Chapter 158: The Khan of Mobei
The second year of Kaiping, the end of the year, New Year’s Eve.

Yingzhou, Hejian County.

While undercurrents were surging in Youzhou and the prefectures and towns in the north of Yan were desperately trying to create chaos, fish in troubled waters, and take advantage of the fire, in this place only a few hundred miles south of Youzhou, everything was calm.

If Li Zhen's prediction was true, although Xiao Yan and his party did not cross the Yellow River, they should have reached Cangzhou at least. However, he never expected that he headed south and stopped as soon as he reached the territory of Yingzhou.

While Li Zhen was so worried and anxious that he had no time to care about the New Year's Festival, in a mountain villa somewhere in Hejian County, there were lights and decorations everywhere, people were moving around, and the place was bustling with noise.

In the back manor, hundreds of carts loaded with wooden boxes came in one after another. On the wooden boxes of one of the carts, an outlaw was counting the number in a daze. In the large workshop, several outlaws were walking around, counting the valuables in each wooden box one by one.

On the innermost side, several bad guys were sweating profusely in the snow, and they just kept tapping their abacus. From time to time, they put the tip of the brush that had solidified due to the cold in their mouths, and then began to dip it in ink and write quickly.

Even though they have to carry knives and chop off heads all day long, when faced with such a situation, these bad guys who usually work as accountants still use the abacus without any hesitation.

For a moment, dozens of bad guys in the entire back manor just did their job, running around like gears in an orderly manner.

At the outermost gate, a rogue looked back at the wooden boxes in the garden and finally shouted, "There's no room here. Go and ask Captain Fu to find another place..."

"Hey, don't pull it here!"

Immediately, orders began to be passed back one after another.

After a moment, the Mobei people pulling the carts turned around and headed towards another warehouse like coolies under the command of the bad guys.

……

"Fu Baihu, Fu Baihu..."

A bad guy who was hanging a lantern heard the voice, turned around on the wooden rack, and immediately joined in the greeting.

Fu An, dressed in rich man's clothes, pointed at the bad guy who posted the couplet and scolded him with a smile: "Can you take a good look at it? Where the hell is this crooked?"

The bad guy who was scolded was not afraid, and said with a smile: "Captain Fu's clothes are really too tacky. He looks like a peasant who made a fortune."

"You know nothing. What's so good about all this colorful stuff?"

Fu An ignored him and instead fiddled with his clothes left and right, looking very satisfied.

In fact, not only him, but all the bad guys in the whole manor wore new clothes today. Although tomorrow is New Year's Day, according to everyone, after a year of living on the edge of a knife, it is time to wear new clothes on the last day to get some joy and get rid of the bad luck.

But even so, just this morning, the whole farm slaughtered hundreds of chickens and sheep in one go, and the atmosphere was filled with evil spirits. However, the meat was not only used for consumption in the farm, but also distributed to various nearby villages.

As for this "centuries", it was a new position for bad people created by Xiao Yan when he set up a branch in Youzhou. According to Xiao Yan's idea, each branch should have 500 bad people, one captain, and five centurions. Under the centurions, there would be ten small flags. When dispatching tasks in the future, individuals could be contacted directly through the small flags, so that there would be no situation where strangers were caught by others.

Although Fu An also held the title of commander of the personal army in the army, when he returned to his own gang, others were still accustomed to calling him "centuries-old". Even Xiao Yan, who was now called "Xiao Shuai", was still addressed as a colonel in the Yanzhou branch.

Since it was just a start-up, Xiao Yan only promoted Fu An as a centurion for the time being. The various small flags did have candidates, and after returning to the Central Plains in the future, perhaps a systematic reorganization would be needed.

No matter what, the entire Yanzhou branch has tacitly accepted the fact of establishing its own faction. In addition, the bad guys who went to Hebei this time were almost all young people of the ninth generation, and none of them had seen the afterglow of the eighth generation of Ba at the end of the Tang Dynasty, so they carried out this behavior to the end.

After all, almost no one has ever witnessed how elegant the Bad Leader Yuan Tiangang is, and no one has ever seen the true strength of this three hundred year old leader, so the fear is far less intense than that of the eighth generation of Bad People.

Just establish your own mountain.

Fu An put on some airs, walked through the busy courtyard, and entered the front hall.

"General Xiao is really like a god. We waited in that valley for a night, and the Liang army escorting baggage and treasures really passed through there. There were roads everywhere, but they chose that place. I really admire him..."

In the hall, a Mobei general was spitting and speaking in broken Chinese with great enthusiasm. When he was excited, he even stood up and danced with joy, repeating in detail how they cooperated with the bad guys to defeat nearly a thousand imperial guards and looted hundreds of carts.

Xiao Yan sat on an armchair, with a faint smile on his face, drinking tea and listening quietly without interrupting, which gave the commander Qu enough face, making him even more excited. His face flushed, and he patted his chest to guarantee that the Mobei Army did not take a penny more than the agreed property.

"A bunch of idiots."

In the corridor outside the hall, Fu An glanced at the several Mobei generals inside and was speechless.

This Qu Shuai was exaggerating. Xiao Yan had already heard the details of what happened from the Bad Man, and the details were even more detailed and much better than his nonsense. Moreover, the Mobei man dared not take more baggage, and even which hand touched it could be reported to Xiao Yan by the Bad Man.

The route of the baggage transport was a mystery to the people of Mobei. However, as soon as the baggage was transported from Bianliang, it was spotted by the bad guys in Bianliang. It was also watched alternately along the way. Because of such a large scale, it was difficult to hide. In addition, there was no riot in Hebei during the transportation of the baggage, and there were nearly a thousand imperial guards escorting it, so it was easy to analyze the route.

It's just that these people from Mobei are not very knowledgeable.

Fu An couldn't help but laugh secretly, and at the same time he still had the same doubts as before, Xiao Yan was too patient with these foreign Hu people. In his opinion, these northern Hu people should not be treated as human beings, and if they were given a little face, they would easily climb up the pole.

At this time, a chuckle came from the side: "Is Commander Fu wondering why General Xiao is so kind to these Mobei leaders?"

Fu An couldn't help but glance sideways, and then hurriedly said politely: "Mr. Feng, Mr. Han."

It turned out that Feng Dao and Han Yanhui had walked into the corridor at some point, and the person who spoke was Feng Dao.

The two men are almost the same age, both in their late thirties, but Han Yanhui looks very mature. He is very thin, has a long beard, and appears to be much older than his actual age.

On the other hand, Feng Dao, wrapped in a silk scarf made of green silk ribbon, looked very elegant and graceful. He was always very kind to others, but one could not help but admire his steady and calm demeanor.

Fu An knew that although the two were scholars, they were highly regarded by Xiao Yan, especially since they resolutely resigned from their high-ranking positions in Youzhou Prefecture and followed Xiao Yan with their entire families. They became Xiao Yan's trusted think tanks and right-hand men, and their status was considered high among all the warriors.

He smiled and said, "To be honest, Mr. Feng, I do have this doubt, but as a simple man, I just can't figure it out."

Feng Dao and Han Yanhui looked at each other, laughed, and said, "Commander Fu, don't belittle yourself. You work for Marshal Xiao all day long, doing great things. How can you be trapped in this little thing? Unlike the two of us, we can only study this way all day long, so we have some shallow insights."

Although he knew that Feng Dao was just being polite, Fu An felt very comfortable and couldn't help waving his hands: "No, no..."

"Commander Fu, do you think the Hu people can be controlled?"

"That's easier said than done." Fu An immediately shook his head and said, "The barbarians are extremely greedy and cunning, and they are very good at changing their attitude according to the situation. If you want to use them, you must be prepared to be betrayed."

"But in battles like this one, General Xiao can always use the Hu people in many major battles. Why?" "It's because General Xiao's prestige is too great. How dare the Hu people disobey him?" Fu An said disdainfully: "None of these Hu people can match General Xiao. If anyone dares to have second thoughts, I can deal with them for General Xiao."

"Is it just about using force?" Feng Dao asked again.

"This……"

Fu An turned around and looked at Xiao Yan, who had a faint smile on his face the whole time in the hall. He clearly had a friendly look on his face, and would laugh from time to time while talking to a few people, but unexpectedly, those leaders became more respectful to him, and there was a spontaneous respect in their words and actions, which did not seem fake.

He couldn't help but hesitate.

Han Yanhui, who had been silent, stroked his long beard and said, "In the past, the Turkic Khanate collapsed and the remaining tribes fled to Gaochang. The small tribes on the grasslands and the small countries in the Western Regions all sought to belong to the Tang Dynasty. The remaining Turkic tribes in Gaochang were naturally angry and wanted to make a comeback. However, when their tribes heard that the Tang Dynasty treated the surrendered Turkic people very well, they all traveled thousands of miles to return to the Tang Dynasty. From then on, this Turkic tribe never recovered and completely disappeared."

Feng Dao looked at Fu An, who was still a little confused, and smiled faintly, then took over the conversation and said, "During the Zhenguan period of the Tang Dynasty, the rulers of the four barbarians came to the palace to ask Emperor Taizong to be the Heavenly Khan. Emperor Taizong said, 'I am the emperor of the Tang Dynasty, how can I do the Khan's work?' All the ministers and the four barbarians shouted long live the emperor. After that, Emperor Taizong gave the imperial seal to the rulers of the northwest, and the four barbarians all called Taizong the Heavenly Khan.

Commander Fu, why do you think so?

Fu An scratched the back of his head and stammered, "Emperor Taizong is the natural Khan... All the barbarians are afraid of the Tang Dynasty, so they naturally ask for it..."

"No, Emperor Taizong once said: 'Since ancient times, people have valued the Chinese and despised the barbarians. I alone love them all equally, so all tribes rely on me like parents.'"

Feng Dao showed admiration on his face and said, "You and I both know that the Hu people are greedy and cunning, but during the reign of Emperor Taizong, many of the barbarians obeyed them. They feared their power, but more of them admired their virtue.

When Emperor Taizong passed away, the leaders of the various tribes and the officials of Chang'an all cried bitterly, as if they had lost their parents. Why? This is because they feared the power and respected the virtue of the Tang Dynasty. They were afraid of the Tang Dynasty and were grateful to the Tang Dynasty. This is contradictory, but it can be integrated.

Fu An nodded suddenly, then subconsciously looked at Xiao Yan, but suddenly, he was startled.

Han Yanhui chuckled and whispered, "Master Xiao is trying to become the Khan of Mobei..."

"Hahaha." Feng Dao couldn't help laughing.

The two scholars looked at each other, but both thought it was natural and did not think it was beyond their control. Why did the two resign their official positions and follow their families to this place? It was because they could tell from all the little things that Xiao Yan had great ambitions. If Xiao Yan became a great leader in the future, the two would be great meritorious officials.

Feng Dao dreamed about what Xiao Yan had said to him in private every night.

"Mr. Feng, do you want to enter the Lingyan Pavilion?"

"..."

Fu An wanted to say something but stopped himself. He already had a very scary guess in his mind, but looking at the two people's self-conscious and half-smiling expressions, he didn't know who to share it with, so he could only keep it in his heart.

The captain looks exactly like the emperor...

Restore Tang, restore Tang, is the commander doing this for the emperor, or for...

Fu An's heartbeat quickened and his face turned pale. It was an indescribable feeling, a mixture of nervousness, fear, worry, and a hint of excitement?

Fu An didn't know why he was so excited. He scratched the back of his head subconsciously, as if he wanted to pull his hair out, and fell silent.

"Commander Fu, what are you doing?" Feng Dao was slightly surprised when he saw Fu An's strange expression.

"Ahem, no, no..." Fu An came back to his senses and laughed dryly, "You two gentlemen's words have opened my eyes. I was stunned by General Xiao's far-sighted plan..."

Feng Dao smiled and waved his hand to indicate that it was not worth mentioning.

Before long, a chorus of voices rang out in the hall.

"General Xiao, we will withdraw first."

Xiao Yan did not stand up, but sipped his tea and said, "Today is the New Year's Eve of the Han Dynasty. You can collect some rewards for your men. Just think of it as my early New Year's red envelopes for Mobei and other warriors."

Several generals were overjoyed and bowed hurriedly: "We thank General Xiao!"

Xiao Yan smiled and waved his hand, and the bad guys immediately followed him out.

Of course, it is not so easy to get his money. It is nothing to win over a few leaders. The bad guys under his command will naturally tell the soldiers in Mobei on his behalf who they eat food from and who they receive money from.

Soon, Feng Dao and the other two entered the hall. Han Yanhui stroked his long beard and said with a smile, "General Xiao has used both kindness and power. I'm afraid that this group of Mobei soldiers and these Hu generals will only remember General Xiao from now on."

"I really can't hide my thoughts from you two gentlemen." Xiao Yan couldn't help but laugh.

Han Yanhui said solemnly: "Although this is an open plot, it is not something that anyone can achieve. If it were us, the effect would probably be counterproductive. As far as I know, the grasslands respect the strong the most. If we show them goodwill, these Hu generals will only think that we are weak and can be bullied.

But you are different, General Xiao. Just give them a little sweetness, and those Hu generals will think they have gained great honor, and will respect and fear you even more."

Feng Dao added with a wry smile: "This is why people are not the same as one another."

Xiao Yan smiled. It turned out that one had to be professional. Flattery was much more pleasing to the ear than flattery from a bunch of warriors. He waved his hand, indicating that the story was over.

Han Yanhui twirled his beard.

"According to the time, General Xiao will return to Youzhou soon."

Feng Dao shook his head and said sternly, "The timing must be right. How can Li Zhen force General Xiao to leave so easily? Can he easily spit it out before he even tastes the consequences?"

After saying this, the two men smiled at each other again, but this time, it seemed a little creepy.

Xiao Yan couldn't help laughing. The most vicious people were scholars. These two people might not have been his acquaintances in Youzhou at first, but after serving under him, they quickly became close friends. To put it bluntly, the two of them were extremely like-minded and had many evil schemes.

On the side, Fu An approached silently and whispered.

"Captain...

The bad guys from Yingzhou have been contacted."

(End of this chapter)