Father Han Gaozu

Chapter 764 Anxiety's work! !

"Here is the body poison?"

"Hahaha, we are finally here!"

Xia Houzao stroked the thick beard on his face, and looked at Shentujia who was beside him, his words were full of complacency.

"Look, how is it? I said I would successfully escort you to Shendu, did I break my promise??"

Shen Tujia's face was rather ugly. Looking at the city in the distance, the worry on his face finally dissipated. He gritted his teeth and looked at the proud Xia Houzao beside him, "Yes, the general's hand It’s a good road, from Xiting to Shendu Beisai, I’ve walked for more than half a year, if it wasn’t for those captives, I’m afraid they would have followed the general all the way to the country of Yan?”

Xia Houzao waved his hand, "You also have a share of the military merits along the road, and the good things of getting military merits while driving here are all because of me."

Hearing this sentence, Shen Tujia just sneered.

He couldn't believe this general anymore, this guy who claimed to know all the roads and could find any city quickly, almost took him to Xia Kingdom in the past six months, but wandered around outside the Great Wall, even He also defeated several groups of horse thieves who were entrenched there and robbed merchants. Finally, by interrogating these captives, he finally found the right path and came to Shendu. The hero laughed out loud."

How aggrieved it would be to get lost and die.

If His Majesty found out, he would have to laugh at himself for three years.

It's not that this guy doesn't know the way at all, but it's hard to contain the excitement in his heart when he sees the military exploits. He insists on chasing him to the end, and he forgets the original path after chasing him. After solving the problem of banditry along the road, Shen Tujia's heart was also extraordinarily complicated.Of course, this guy is not completely useless, his fighting power is still very strong, none of those thieves can survive a round in his hands, and with dozens of people, he dares to attack hundreds of people, one against ten, And there were no casualties, it was pure crushing.

How can you fight? Why don't you go to Hongwu Hall to practice martial arts with His Majesty?What kind of general are you here for!

Xia Houzao was smiling all over his face at the moment, "I didn't expect that these thieves had so much stolen goods, and our Xiting country has made a lot of money. You don't know, our Xiting country was very poor at the beginning, but now we have all the wealth. , I led people to snatch them here. At the beginning, there were not enough [-] knights in the country. I took the whole country to snatch these bandits, suppressed bandits everywhere, and increased the national power. Later, I sent troops to attack those bandits. Hu people, more and more fights, I remember very clearly, when we held a banquet, we had to hesitate for a long time to kill a chicken, because the country was poor and had nothing.”

"My celebration banquet is always replaced by barley rice. The wine is always mixed with cold water. You won't get drunk after drinking ten barrels of him."

"So until now, our soldiers in Xiting Kingdom will subconsciously launch an attack when they see bandits and barbarians. It is a bad problem that fell at the beginning. There were 800 soldiers in the country. Now there are more than 3000 soldiers. It is all thanks to us that we have gathered more than [-] knights."

"Is this the reason why the general chased and killed the bandits and almost chased him to Xia Guo?"

"Ahem, you don't know. In fact, I used to have a deputy general named Wang. He was the one who guided us all the time. He went to the Military Academy, and I have no one to use here. This is Li Guang. Don't think he is very good at fighting, in fact, like me, he doesn't know the way very well, he is not as good as me, if I let him lead the way, I'm sure I'll take you to Dian Kingdom."

Hearing Xia Houzao's complaints, Li Guang couldn't help but said: "In this vast grassland and desert, there is nothing to tell the direction. The sunrise and sunset are also different from those in the Central Plains. There is also the billowing wind and dust. It is too difficult to find the way. Didn’t it mean that Shang Fang made that guide thing? Why didn’t the general ask for more?”

Xia Houzao scratched his head, "We are poor, how can we have the money to equip the army with these things. All the things we made were sent to Xia Guo, but they didn't want to give them to us. His Majesty gave me one instead, which is too much." It's exquisite, I was afraid of breaking it, so I hid it at home."

Shen Tujia's face darkened, "The general left more than one thing at home."

"How do you know? I only found out that my wine bag was left at home after I went out. My wine bag is made of the skin of a strange beast, and it won't break no matter what."

While a few people were chatting, the city in the distance finally responded.

A group of people rushed out of the city and quickly surrounded them.

Most of them were local soldiers, natives, with dark complexions and timid expressions. Only the three leading soldiers were Han Chinese. They were also a little nervous at the moment, and hurriedly asked their identities.

After showing his identification, the soldier was very excited.

"So it's General Shentu!"

"We were ordered to wait here for you for a long time, but we never saw you coming. We thought that something happened to you. Great, great!"

Shen Tujia said helplessly: "I met bandits on the way, and I wasted some time trying to get rid of them."

"It's okay, it's okay, it's fine when we arrive."

These armored soldiers were very excited. After asking, they found out that they were officials sent by Feng Jing, not soldiers. They followed them into the city. Xia Houzao looked around carelessly, as if he had long regarded this place as a With the things in his pocket, he even openly asked the officials on the side about the situation here, including the number of people, the area of ​​arable land, and so on.The official who asked this question was terrified and dared not answer.

Shen Tujia came here for the first time, but he was not curious about the local situation in his heart, and he didn't go to see it. He directly asked about the situation of several senior officials.

"Mr. Feng is in Huashi City. You don't know. Two months ago, the Peacock King died of illness. The country is very unstable and turbulent. Mr. Feng is in charge of the overall situation. He proposed to welcome the prince who is far away in Chang'an and let him come Come to inherit the throne. The great nobles in the Peacock Country are about to move, and General Ariel is also in Huashi City, otherwise there will be a big mess, you are a little late, those hateful bandits!"

The official scolded, looking very helpless.

Shen Tujia turned pale with shock, "The Peacock King is dead?? Then who is in charge of the Peacock Country now?"

"It's Duke Feng and many great nobles who are working together as regents. They are waiting for the crown prince to return."

"Don't those great nobles have any opinions?"

"I heard that Mr. Feng reached some kind of agreement with them. We don't know the details. You still have to go there in person."

Shentujia couldn't help frowning. In the territory of Shendu, the most powerful country is the Peacock Kingdom. Although it was defeated by Baicheng before, in terms of national strength, no one can compare to them. That Kingslayer is even more powerful. He was the first king who defected to the great Han. His death would definitely cause a certain amount of turmoil in the body. In addition, there is a resting man who is about to move. There are many things to pay attention to here. Unexpectedly, when I just came Poison, just encountered such a situation!
Shen Tujia hurriedly said: "Hurry up and arrange carriages and horses for us, we don't want to stay here any longer. Go directly to Huashi City!"

"You have come from afar, why don't you rest for a few days."

"No rest, I will start now, let them arrange it quickly!"

"only!!"

The officials quickly began to arrange carriages, but Xia Houzao was very reluctant. He rubbed his eyes and said, "You didn't do anything along the way. We killed all the way, but we can't stand the trouble, isn't it just a dead man?" King Hu? There is no fuss. If you want to go, you can go by yourself. I have to rest here for a few days and then go there. We can’t hurry.”

"Oh, then you can rest here with peace of mind!"

Shentujia was very happy, he really didn't want to be entangled by this guy anymore, wished he could go back to the West Court now, but just as he turned around, Shentujia froze again, he turned his head slowly and looked at Xiahou kitchen.

"General. You have been running around with me for half a year, and there is not much time left. Why don't you go with me?"

Xia Houzao couldn't understand, "Why do you do this? At first I was by your side all day, but you wanted to drive me away. Now I want to take the initiative to say goodbye, but you want me to accompany you. You are a man, why do you do this?" What about a woman?"

No matter what Xia Houzao said, in name he still had to obey this local official who was treated the same as San Gong.

Xia Houzao reluctantly went on the road again, staring at Shentujia's back resentfully, muttering something in a low voice.

And Shentu Jia looked at him with complicated eyes.

He is really not sure now, whether the general in front of him is really reckless or foolish, and has always been pretending in front of him.

First of all, Xiting King Liu Qi told himself that the Peacock King was seriously ill, but he had never heard the news that the Peacock King was seriously ill, except that in Liu Qi's mouth, Liu used the reason that the news was on the way to prevaricate, but Shen Tujia still felt a little No, but when he was in a hurry to get the body poison, he was led by Xiahou Zao to run around. When he came to the body poison, the Peacock King was already dead. He always felt that something was wrong.

Although that kingslayer had many flaws, he was definitely considered a good king in the Shendu area, at least he did not lack courage.

This man has a crazy obsession with recreating the territory of the Peacock Empire. For this, he can do anything. Back then, the big man took back this corridor from the Huns and handed it over to him in exchange for his tribute.At that time, Xiting Kingdom was still very weak, just like Xia Houzao said, they did not dare to slaughter chickens at the celebration banquet, but now Xiting Kingdom has obviously become stronger, calmed down the surrounding enemies, sharpened their knives, and hoped to enter the body. poisonous areas, and take away the corridor (Kashmir) that was originally given to the Mauryan Kingdom.

The king who is extremely obsessed with the territory of the Peacock Empire will never surrender this territory easily. If he surrenders it, he will not be able to realize his ambitions, and this is equivalent to completely handing over his life to the other party, sending troops from here , The cavalry only needs to bypass the mountain roads, gallop on the plains with a sweeping view, and they can kill the city of Fahrenheit in eight days. How terrible this is.

His death is of no benefit to anyone, only to Xiting Kingdom.

In the previous conversation, Liu Qi also revealed his ambition. He was eager to go one step further and stab the tentacles of Xiting Kingdom from the Western Regions into his body.

This made Shen Tujia start to think, could it be that Liu Qi killed the Peacock King secretly? ?Deliberately let Xia Houzao run around with him?

But every time Shentu Jia looked at the general, Xia Houzao always had that pitiful expression, he didn't look like a treacherous person at all.
There are six cities here, occupying various intersections, and there are high mountains on both sides, which are insurmountable. It can be said that this is the second critical road from the Western Regions to the belly of Shendu. The first critical road is in Bactria. Shentu Jia led the people to set off from here, and it took less than ten days to reach the city of Huashi.

No wonder Liu Qihui valued this area so much.

Feng Jing was still the same, and the poison did not have any effect on him. He did not turn into an aboriginal like Zhou Shengzhi. A Lie followed him, and the two came to welcome Shen Tujia together. Shentujia knew in his heart that the surrounding soldiers and soldiers holding strong crossbows on the city wall were not safe, even if these two were in Fahrenheit City at the same time, it would not be peaceful here.

"The general, please enter the city with me quickly!"

Feng Jing didn't say much polite words, he dragged Shentu Jia and hurried into the city. Everyone's expressions were a little serious. After entering the city, Shentu Jia noticed that the city was under martial law, and there were no pedestrians on the road.

"The second son of the Peacock King colluded with the Parthians to launch a rebellion, which was suppressed by General Ariel. There are probably still enemies in the city, so that's the only way to go."

Feng Jing explained, and Shentu Jia couldn't help asking: "What disease did the Peacock King die from?"

Feng Jing was taken aback, "I don't know too well, after losing to Baicheng Kingdom earlier, he was a bit depressed."

In the rear, Xia Houzao chatted with Ale.

"Long time no see, do you still speak with Qi Guo accent?"

"Haha, not all of them."

Ariel smiled wryly, and said, "I also learned the elegant language, which is not very standard."

"It's okay, you'd better speak your Qi accent, it sounds kind!"

Feng Jing and Shen Tujia returned to the palace, surrounded by patrolling soldiers, they finally sat down in an inner hall, Feng Jing explained a little tiredly: "You have finally come these days, Peacock Many things have happened in China, because it is too far away from Chang'an, we can only make up our own minds about many things. After the Peacock King passed away, there were rumors that the Peacock King was killed by us, and then some outbreaks broke out everywhere. Rebellion. I can't support it. General Ariel led troops to suppress them all just now."

"The Parthians sent cavalry to plunder the vicinity of Bactria, and they also sent people to play the name of revenge for the king, saying that we killed the Peacock King and prepared to devour the entire body."

"Internal and external troubles. Even this city of Fahrenheit has become unsafe. I have repeatedly promised those people that nothing will change. I will support the crown prince as king, so I can appease them. I don't know why, Kingslayer His second son conspired against him and summoned General Ariel and me in the name of a banquet to kill us. General Ariel captured him as a hostage at the banquet and wiped out these rebels. Now the people in the city are divided into several factions, I have asked General Louchuan for help, and his army will arrive here soon."

The more Shen Tujia heard, the more angry he became, "Your Majesty asked me to come here for the sake of peace here. Now, body poison is the most important granary for a big man. How can we make this place chaotic?"

Xia Houzao echoed: "Just don't be too polite to these people. I've said it a long time ago. It's better to gather an army from Xiting Kingdom and let me lead [-] elite troops to kill them. I'll see who dares to mess up!! "

Shen Tujia squinted his eyes, stared at Xia Houzao, and said with gritted teeth: "I will definitely settle the matter here, if I find out that someone is harming the interests of the entire big man for his own benefit, no matter who he is , I won’t let him go!!”

Feng Jing reminded: "As early as when the Peacock King was seriously ill, I sent people to Chang'an to convey that Chang'an probably already knew these things. Don't be too anxious, Your Majesty will definitely have his own judgment."

Chang'an, Xuanshi Hall.

Liu Chang had no expression on his face, and sitting beside him were many ministers of the inner court headed by Zhang Buyi, oh, it should be said that they were the ministers who had stepped down.

Most of them are not of high rank, but they can follow the emperor and advise the emperor, which belongs to the decision-making layer.

Zhang Buyi is their leader.

In front of everyone, there is a letter from Shendu. Although the content of the letter is only that the Peacock King is critically ill, everyone already knows that the message has been issued, which means that the Peacock King is at the end. The moment, may not be alive at this moment.

Everyone was a little silent, not daring to express their thoughts too casually.

The master father Yan looked around and found that everyone was silent, so he got up and said: "Your Majesty, according to my minister, the most important thing now is to let the peacock prince return to the country as soon as possible. The prince has been in Chang'an for a long time and has received a good education. It is beneficial to us, we can let him return to Peacock, inherit the throne as soon as possible, and take care of his father, which can be regarded as giving him a chance to perform filial piety. In addition, please let Xiting Kingdom pay close attention to the situation of Peacock, for fear that someone will use Peacock The king's illness died to do things"

Zhang Buyi angrily slapped the document in front of his face, "Your Majesty, I think General Cheqi should go to kill him! The Anxi people have always been eyeing tigers, and this time they will definitely take the opportunity to release rumors, saying that the big man murdered the Peacock King If you want to unite with the local traitors to oppose you, Xiting Kingdom is helpless, and you still have to watch it with chariot generals! I even feel that it was the Anxi people who murdered the Peacock King. Have the ambition to devour body poison!!"

Everyone just thought it was absurd, how could the Anxi people murder the Peacock King with poison? ?

Zhang Buyi said loudly: "This matter must have nothing to do with the Anxi people, but Anxi is far away, and sending troops rashly is by no means a good strategy. Please arrange the succession of the crown prince first. If he is murdered, he can be escorted by the chariot general."

(End of this chapter)