Father Han Gaozu

Chapter 677

The vast grassland, with no end in sight.

The isolated city is particularly conspicuous in this grassland. The city is not far from the water source, the scale is not too large, and the city wall is not too high. The gate of the city is wide open, and you can see all kinds of people driving cattle and sheep , filed out.

Inside and outside the city, you can also see the people who are farming.

It used to be Mumuwu Village of the Huns, and it was the vanguard camp leading to the Dai Kingdom. The Huns often stationed troops here, prepared siege equipment, prepared weapons and ordnance, and used this place as a springboard to attack Yandai and other areas.

The technology of the Huns is actually not as bad as later generations thought. Whether it is iron smelting or other aspects, they are unique. Even in a certain era, the Huns absorbed the smelting technology of the East and the West. As far as "all in armor", as for the bone arrows that are often said in later generations, most of them are used by the servants of the Huns, that is, the so-called Zahu. The Huns not only understand smelting technology, they also call craftsmen to make siege equipment. It will also summon the miscellaneous beards who can cultivate to carry out extensive cultivation, which is very remarkable.

There is often a situation among the ethnic groups outside the Great Wall. Those who cultivate do not know how to herd, those who herd do not know how to fish and hunt, and those who fish and hunt do not know how to cultivate. The Huns are different. Later generations can often find traces of farming civilization in the tombs of the Huns. They themselves probably If you don’t do more, the Zahu living in Shuofang Henan and other areas, that is, the Linhu and other tribes in Zhao Guoshi, because they have lived with the Central Plains people for a long time, they have already changed from nomadic to farming, and the Huns let them do farming. , to harvest more food.

This city of the Huns is now one of the three major cities of the Great Xia Kingdom. After repairs and expansions, it was named Xia’s City. It is a very important gateway to the Xia Kingdom. It is very close to the Great Wall. Merchants gather here.

The city is not too prosperous, and the population is not large, only tens of thousands of people.

There are not many merchants, and the Xia Kingdom does not have special products. What the Xia Kingdom has, and the surrounding princes have it. It is not competitive, so it is not as good as the Xiting Kingdom. On the road of the big man and the poisonous body, he was eating bonuses and even being able to eat to fill his stomach, but Xia Guo did not have such good luck.

There is no Xia Palace here, only a county guard's mansion, which is the seat of Mobei County.

Several knights galloped out from the side door, and galloped towards the endless grassland.

The leading knight is not too old, and his brows are full of pride. He is wearing a Zhao people's short suit, a long sword, and a strong bow hanging from the waist of his horse. He looks dusty, his face is vicissitudes, and his eyes But it is very sharp, like a goshawk.

This is Fu Qing, Prime Minister of Xia Kingdom.

Ever since Fu Qing came to Xia Kingdom, he has been running around for the king's affairs.

The first thing he did was to bring gifts, meet the chiefs of various tribes, and be friends with them. Although Fu Qing was born in a noble family, he did not have the arrogance of a nobleman. No matter what kind of people he was, he could make friends regardless of his status. , drank and ate meat shoulder to shoulder with those barbarians, and traveled almost half of the tribes outside the Great Wall, and his reputation was greatly shaken. All the Hu people knew him, and all the powerful leaders of various ministries did not treat him as a friend. After learning about Fu Qinglai The chiefs of all the tribes personally slaughtered cattle and sheep to entertain him. Seeing that his horses were weak, they took out the best horses and gave them to him.

Fu Qing was very courageous. He went alone to lobby these tribes to submit them to the Xia Kingdom. At this moment, they were still fighting with the Tang Kingdom. He went directly to the enemy's side, bringing only three or four people, and at night , he lived directly in the other party's tent without any fear.

There were also chiefs who wanted to frighten him, and deliberately set up a big tripod in front of him, which made people feel sharp.

As a result, Fu Qing didn't have the slightest fear, talked and laughed happily, drank a lot of wine, and performed a sword dance for the chief in public, which made the chief terrified.

After putting away the long sword, Fu Qing reprimanded him angrily, "I visit you as a friend, but you want to scare me by such means? Is this how you treat your friends?"

The chief pleaded guilty in a hurry, and then surrendered to Xia Guo.

Now there are more than [-] tribes under the name of Xia Guo, all of which Fu Qing recovered by himself.

At this moment, he went out on horseback again. There were only three knights beside him, and no one thought it was wrong. One day, or not coming back for a few months. Fortunately, Xia Guo has no government affairs to deal with.

Among his knights, there was an older man who followed Fu Qing with his head buried. They had driven for a long time and stopped to rest beside a stream of water. The other two knights were preparing to eat, and the old knight sat By Fu Qing's side.

"Fu Sheng, Your Majesty asked you to come to Xia Kingdom to let you govern here, not to send you here to make friends."

"Look, what have you done since you came to Xia Kingdom?"

"I just bring gifts to meet those barbarians and give them treasures. They don't know whether the things you give are good or not, and they are humble all day long. Why are you so afraid of these barbarians? Next door is Tang and Dai. They If you don't obey, just attack them directly, why do you want to do that?"

"Do you know that the officials have a lot of opinions on you now, you are giving away things from Xia Kingdom, drinking and eating meat with barbarians everywhere, what exactly are you trying to do?"

Hearing the old knight's complaints, Fu Qing was not angry, and said with a smile: "Your Majesty established the Xia Kingdom to recover the grasslands, not to slaughter the grasslands. You can certainly defeat them by mobilizing the troops of the Tang Kingdom and the Dai Kingdom, but what next? ?They know what we think, and they will flee. The grassland is so big, and they keep running, what can we do? Chase them all the way? If they chase them down until they are all killed, it will cost more money than me to send them out Is it hundreds of times more?"

"Besides, it's not that I'm fruitless. When Xia Kingdom was first established, it was just an empty shell. Now there are more than [-] tribes under its command, all of whom are attached to Xia State and recognize our governance. Isn't this a result?"

The old knight sneered, "If you give me a gift like this, I will also submit to you. This is buying them with money, and it must not last long."

"This is not a long-term solution, but it can open up the current situation. If not, no long-term solution will work."

Fu Qing said, stroking his beard again, and said seriously: "Don't listen to those people's words, they don't know that I once ruled the Yuezhi people in Tang State, dealt with the remnants of Donghu in Yan State, and dealt with the remnants of Donghu in Yan State. I have been a county magistrate, I have been sent to Funan in Nanyue, and I have served as a sheriff in the Western Regions. Naturally, I know how to treat these people. They always say that I should maintain the majesty of the country's prime minister, don't show favor easily, don't let go easily Low stature haha, if I sit in a mansion like them and put on a nobleman’s appearance, will these tribes submit themselves? It’s just absurd.”

"At the beginning of the establishment of the Xia Kingdom, we can't dream of a way to govern, but to establish a rule first. You know, the same method was adopted at the beginning of the Modun, and the people in the temple didn't know about it. The king even sent someone to send it to me. Here comes the letter, asking me to govern the country of Xia according to the method he proposed."

Fu Qing shook her head with a slightly bitter expression.

The old knight stroked his beard, "After all, he is my disciple, and he still has some ability to govern the country."

This old knight is Gongyang Shou who was exiled to Xia Kingdom.

Fu Qing said calmly: "This is not a strategy that the king can propose. I think it is probably proposed by Chao Cuo."

"Can you see that too??"

"I used to work in the Shangshu Mansion, and I recorded many of Chao Cuo's melodies, which are in the same style."

"Chao Cuo is indeed very capable, but after all, he is a person who stays in the temple. He doesn't know the actual situation of the place at all. He talked about a lot of strategies for governing the place, but what's the use of it? If there is no tribe under his command, What about governance?? Maybe 20 years later, we can use his strategy to govern.”

Gong Yangshou glanced at him, "You work in many places. I heard that you are the magistrate of the sixth county in the temple. It is true!"

Fu Qing has many nicknames, among which the Six County Magistrate is very famous.

This reputation is due to the fact that Fu Qing served as the county magistrate six times in a row. He served as the county magistrate in the Tang Dynasty. There is also a county magistrate of Qianshi. Fu Qing was the magistrate of a large county for the second time, and he did a good job. He was supposed to be promoted to a temple or county, but someone suppressed him and refused to promote him. The first time was the county magistrate, the fourth time was the county magistrate, and the fifth time was the county magistrate. He served as the county magistrate in six counties in a row, and the transfer was very large. He was in Tang for a while, and Yan for a while.
This is not suppression anymore, this is simply strangulation. Since the founding of the country, it has never been heard that the political performance is very good and the county is always standing still. The better the job is, the worse the county will be. If Zhou Chang at that time couldn't stand it Well, this person probably has to go on to serve as the county magistrate in a worse county town.

But under such circumstances, his ability has improved by leaps and bounds, and his political performance has become more and more abnormal. When he served as the county magistrate for the sixth time, the local county guards came to him to ask how to govern the place. Later, after he was promoted, he was also dismissed. Suppressed for various reasons, repeatedly sent to the most dangerous and worst places to serve as officials, fought in wars, sent out envoys, transported grain, collected taxes, built cities, dug rivers, and raised horses. That is Fu Qing His character is strong, otherwise he would have been broken in the tempering.

Gongyang Shou sighed, "Forget it, I can't convince you. After you came here, you just tried to please those barbarians. Anyway, His Majesty has already returned. I want to warn you. If His Majesty knows your behavior , maybe you have to be dismissed, and then serve as a county magistrate, becoming the seventh county magistrate."

Fu Qing shook his head, "Your Majesty will understand me. If you don't do this, Xia Guo will always be a display. Moreover, according to your statement, are all those who are courteous and virtuous corporals just trying to curry favor?"

"Corporal, are these barbarians considered soldiers?"

Fu Qing smiled at him, but did not answer.

A bonfire was lit, and everyone ate barbecue. The ram ate happily and was very full. Then, he stroked the belly and said with emotion: "Just eating meat is useless. Eating so much meat is useless." what to do?"

These words seemed to be specially addressed to Fu Qing.

Fu Qing still didn't agree.

Gongyangshou couldn't help but said: "I didn't say anything when you did this before, but this time, that Anlu tribe backtracked, took your gift and agreed to surrender, but now wants more. It's your fault, it's your weakness that led to this situation, and now you're going to find them, but they dare to do this, so you're not afraid of you coming to trouble them, you know?"

Fu Qing's expression became serious, "Of course I know that among the barbarians, there are actually people who are righteous and virtuous. When I was working in the Taifu Mansion, I was taken care of by Tugong. But there are also greedy people like Anlu. Little man, I am going this time to reason with him and let him know that my things are not so easy to get."

Gong Yangshou snorted coldly with disdain, "True?? Heh, can you convince him? I'll listen to you here! If you can convince him, I'll cut off his ear on the spot and give it to you!"

"My eloquence is pretty good."

Fu Qing was talking to himself.

Since the Huns left the grassland, the tribes ruled by the Huns began to fall apart, and the entire grassland became fragments. At the beginning, the Huns tried every means to turn many miscellaneous Huns into a unified Huns. As a result, after the Huns withdrew, these lost The tribes that identified themselves began to use the name of the tribe and became more dispersed. This Anlu tribe is a branch left over from the Huns. However, they are different from others. It is said that they are the real Huns, and they are the right sages of the Huns in the past. The king's branch also took the Xiongnu royal family as their surname.

Of course, they are definitely not the royal family of the Xiongnu. The royal family of the Xiongnu was in the Tang country. After they surrendered, they were resettled in the Tang country and mixed with the Yuezhi people.

In the past, Fu Qing visited them and gave them a gift, and they got a gift in return. They also agreed to surrender, but after Fu Qing left, they regretted it and sent someone to tell Fu Qing if they could send some more gifts.

Their tribe was not far from Xia Clan City, and Fu Qing arrived at their tribe on the evening of the third day.

Seeing Fu Qing's arrival, the local knights were very happy. Obviously, they all knew Fu Qing. They hurriedly reported, and soon, a short but strong barbarian came out to greet him with a smile. This person was An Lu, named after the tribe.

"Fu Xiang is here!!"

The man smiled and came to hold the horse for Fu Qing. Fu Qing hurriedly got off the horse and greeted him with a smile. The atmosphere was unexpectedly harmonious. The man took Fu Qing back to his tent. Someone brought wine and meat, and dancers to cheer.

Fu Qing and An Lu sat in the upper seats and talked happily with each other.

Gongyang Shou sat aside displeased, his eyes full of contempt.

The Anlu tribe is not considered a large tribe, with more than 1 people, and less than [-] people can be drawn out to fight.

After eating and drinking enough, Fu Qing went straight to the topic.

"You once swore to Tanhan Mountain that you would submit to the Kingdom of Xia, but now you have broken your oath. Why?"

"Haha, you are worrying too much. I didn't break my promise. It's just that my tribe has a large number of people. The money you sent is not enough for us to share. I'm afraid they will be dissatisfied, so I sent someone to inform you."

As Anlu said, he pointed at the people under his command as if in a demonstration.

There were more than forty people sitting in the banquet, and they were all staring at Fu Qing at the moment.

Fu Qing shook his head, "There is no such reason. Xia Guo gave you asylum, not to buy you. Those big tribes with 9 or [-] people have not repented. I am really unhappy when you do this."

An Lu still kept smiling, "Don't be angry, just this time, if you can satisfy your subordinates, we will become the sharp blade in your hands. You can hit whoever you want us to fight, and kill whoever you want us to kill. You came this time empty-handed? The gift should be at the back, I think, you might as well stay in the tribe, wait for them to give you the gift, just in time for the canonization ceremony to be held here, you won’t suffer Yes, all the sons under my command are descendants of the former Great Chanyu, brave and good at fighting, if you want to integrate the grassland, we can give you a sharp sword!"

"And I feel"

"Puchi~~"

At that moment, Anlu suddenly felt that something was wrong. He wanted to continue talking, but suddenly there was a sharp pain in his throat. He stared blankly at Fu Qing in front of him. Fu Qing pulled out his sharp sword at some point. There were bloodstains all over his body, his throat was torn open in an instant, and blood spurted out. Anlu tried to cover his throat, but it was in vain. The strength in his body disappeared instantly, and he fell powerlessly. This change made everyone stunned. , Gong Yangshou spurted out the wine from his mouth suddenly, and subconsciously pulled out his sword.

"I have a sharp sword, but it is sharp. I don't need others to be my sharp sword."

Fu Qing said, and then looked at the people in front of him.

These Hu generals were stunned at the moment, and it took a long time before they realized that their chief had been directly killed. They pulled out their swords angrily, and the people on the side rushed forward. Fu Qing's sword was extremely fast, with a flash, then The man also had his throat cut and fell directly to the ground.

"Sit down!! Whoever dares to get up will die!!"

"Do you all know me?! I am Fu Qing!! Tribes everywhere respect me as a great chanyu!! However, your leader dared to break his oath and wanted to detain me to blackmail the big man ?! Are you afraid that you will not die fast enough?! There are four tribes around, all big tribes, if they know that I died here, they will besiege you with all their strength, and the big man will chase you with all their strength and kill you Clan annihilation, no one left!!!"

"Sit down with me and discuss the matter of surrendering to the big man!! I killed him with Anlu's original oath, and I swear to Danhanshan, whoever chooses to surrender, I will not blame the past, but if anyone dares to act rashly, I will Whose head was cut off!!"

At that moment, the Hu people looked at him in surprise, but none of them dared to act rashly.

Only then did Fu Qing unhurriedly cut off Anlu's head, and led the three knights out of the tent in a swaggering manner. In the camp of tens of thousands of people, under the comment of dozens of generals, they rode Get off the horse, don't panic at all, and leave slowly.

Gong Yangshou was already dumbfounded.

"You really convinced him."

"Yeah, aren't you going to cut off your own ears?"

Gong Yangshou was startled, hesitated for a moment, and suddenly raised his long sword, about to cut off his ear, but Fu Qing was even faster, knocking down his saber directly.

"Keep it, if you lose your ears, how can you listen to me bragging?"

(End of this chapter)