Five Dynasties River Mountains Fengyue

Just as they rushed out of a small forest and descended from the hillside, the city of Gu'an, which was lit up in the distance, was already in sight.

"The lights are on in the middle of the night, it should be that His Majesty's army has entered the city!" The soldiers said excitedly.

Xiao Siwen almost burst into tears of joy, and hurriedly said: "Go, go to the city, go to the city!"

Running all the way, many people scattered in the night, Xiao Siwen only had a dozen or so riders around him at this time, everyone was short of breath, some people's faces were bloodstained, and they cried loudly like the rest of their lives after a catastrophe.

Seeing that the way to survive was in sight, even though the horse couldn't run anymore, the crowd still beat the horse hard and headed towards the city wall.

But when everyone arrived at the base of the city full of joy, Xiao Siwen looked at the top of the city and was about to speak when he suddenly realized something was wrong!

He has read poetry and books, is proficient in articles, and knows Chinese characters, so as soon as he got close to the city wall, he saw a big flag at the top of the city with a big "Zhao" on it, and there were crane and dragon flags on both sides.

Xiao Siwen broke out in a cold sweat instantly, and immediately realized that the city had already been occupied by Zhou people!

Just at this time, someone from the top of the city shouted loudly: "Who is under the city? Password!"

Xiao Siwen was horrified, and shouted in Khitan: "Run, they are Zhou people!"

The Zhou people at the top of the city couldn't understand, and they didn't realize it for a moment. The soldiers were shocked, and even followed him and turned their horses. The Zhou army at the top of the city realized it and shouted: "They ran away, they are Khitan thieves!"

Originally they were able to run away, but after running wildly all night, the horses had long lost their strength and could not run at all, and several people were shot off their horses.

I was scared out of my wits and ran back in a hurry.

I was even more frightened to the extreme: "How did the southerners get to Gu'an, how could they be in front of us!"

"If the Zhou army occupies Gu'an, what about His Majesty who fled north..." The more Xiao Siwen thought about it, the more frightened he became, his hands and feet trembled involuntarily.

Just when they were full of despair and could not advance or retreat, there was a dense sound of horseshoes in the distant woods, and soon a large group of cavalry appeared on the distant hillside, shouting at them loudly in Chinese.

Many of them couldn't understand at all, so no one answered. Xiao Siwen didn't dare to speak, because the person on the other side was asking for a password, which he didn't know.

Before dispatching troops, there will be secret passwords in the army, which are known only to soldiers and generals. They are used to verify the enemy and us. During the battle, if the personnel are confused, if they do not match the passwords, they will be regarded as the enemy.

Facing the cavalry, seeing that they couldn't answer, the whole team quickly jumped over the knee-high bushes and charged down from the southern hillside.

Xiao Siwen and the others were terrified, and they also realized that it was Zhou Jun who had been chasing after them, but it was too late at this time, their horses ran all night, and they couldn't run anymore.

Xiao Siwen watched helplessly as the cavalry on the opposite side stabbed the soldier next to him off his horse, and rolled a few times into the grass next to him. They shouted that they were unstoppable and rushed over, and the guard who protected him was cut off half of his head by a long knife.

His horse was hit by an arrow in the chaos, and the sky was spinning suddenly. His face was burning with pain, his mouth was full of fishy sweetness, and his eyes were in chaos. He didn't know what happened. , It hurts and shakes.

The voice in my ears became more and more blurred, and the scene in front of me began to fade away...

......

When Xiao Siwen regained consciousness again, he was awakened by screams. He was completely weak, his hands were tied behind his back, and his wrists hurt but he couldn't break free.

Not far away, he saw many war horses grazing in the grass by the side of the road. Several Zhou soldiers in full armor were pushing their soldiers with their backs tied behind their backs one by one to a pit for beheading. The soil beside the pit was already dyed. color.

The huge shock woke him up in an instant, and he quickly shouted in Chinese: "Don't kill me, don't kill me, I am the left behind in Nanjing of the Great Liao Kingdom! The stay behind in Nanjing of the Great Liao Kingdom!"

His words quickly attracted the attention of the soldiers of the Zhou army. A soldier came over and glanced at him, "Can you still speak Chinese?"

After speaking, he stretched out his hand to grab the clothes on his shoulders and rubbed them, then he turned around and said, "Commander, his clothes are made of good fabric, and he looks like a high-ranking official. If you don't want to kill him first, report it to the head of the capital."

Zhou Junjunhan, who was killing people over there, looked back at him, Xiao Siwen was trembling, waiting nervously for the next sentence.

"Send him there and let the capital take a look. If he is a high-ranking official, we will make meritorious service. If it is not for you, it will not be too late to chop him off."

After finishing speaking, he spat and said viciously: "The commander-in-chief has ordered that these Khitan dog thieves have the guts to go south, kill all they can, and don't keep them alive. If he tells lies to waste brothers' time, you will make him die a sad death point."

"promise!"

Xiao Siwen was so frightened that his lips turned white and trembled, and he was speechless. At this time, he could not show the momentum of staying behind in Nanjing, the son-in-law of the Great Liao Kingdom.

Escorted by soldiers from the Zhou Army, Xiao Siwen walked down the road to the east, and his vision became wider and wider. He finally determined his location, which was outside Gu'an City.

The place of transportation is the camp of the Zhou army. There are many Zhou troops patrolling and cruising. The soldiers patrolling outside stopped them. After the password was correct, they asked them what happened. After the soldiers who brought him explained the situation, they were led to the camp.

As he walked, he said, "Brother, what kind of Liao country official are you? In the past two days, the number of Liao country officials captured by Vice Marshal Shi and General Zhao is beyond count."

"I don't know, I don't quite understand his explanation, but it seems not small.

It's not uncommon for the commander-in-chief. He doesn't want to catch as many of these bullshit officials and officials in the Liao Kingdom, but for us, it's a credit to us. "

The two talked and laughed.

Xiao Siwen's face turned green and pale, feeling extremely humiliated, but he didn't dare to speak out, for fear of being killed, Zhou Jun slaughtered them at will, still vivid in his memory, so he could only grit his teeth and bow his head.

But as he went deeper, he found that many disgraced people were locked up in an open space circled by Zhou Jun. Xiao Siwen saw many acquaintances, all of whom were generals in the army and His Majesty's entourage, generals and officials.

He was terrified for a while, and after a while he was sent to the big tent of the Chinese army, and a big banner with the word "History" was erected next to the big tent.

Could it be Zhou Jun's coach Shi Congyun!

But soon, he saw a very tall, stern middle-aged man sitting above him, who looked to be in his 40s, obviously not like the young Shi Congyun in the legend.

But he quickly thought of another person, Zhou Guo's number one general Shi Yanchao, Shi Congyun's father!

Shi Yanchao played against them much earlier than Shi Congyun.

As early as Emperor Sejong, the Liao army went straight down to Hezhong Mansion and besieged Jinzhou City. They were repelled by Wang Jun and Shi Yanchao of Zhou State and others. In the Battle of Gaoping, Shi Congyun was also the vanguard who defeated them.

"You said you were left behind in Nanjing, Liao Kingdom." Duofen asked coldly, even though he was far away, he could still feel the killing on the other side.

And what surprised him the most was that he found Yelu Talie, the great king of the South Court, guarded by two soldiers in the corner of the big tent!

The King of the South Courtyard also found him, and the two looked at each other with sadness and helplessness in their eyes.

"Someone asked you something!" The other party's voice became colder, and Xiao Siwen was so frightened that he regained his senses, but he still insisted and did not kneel down. He only saluted and said in Chinese: "Reporting to General Zhou, I am Nanjing of the Great Liao Kingdom." Stay behind Xiao Siwen, our army has been defeated."

"Xiao Siwen, you are in charge of Youzhou." The other party said and got up slowly, stroking the handle of the knife with one hand.

Xiao Siwen's heart was beating wildly, trying to stay calm, he couldn't help taking half a small step back: "Yes, I'm the one who manages Youzhou City, do you have any orders from the general..." Under fear, he couldn't help lowering his posture.

The other party snorted, "If the commander-in-chief didn't want to ask you something, I would have slaughtered you Khitan dog thieves today. You have made a note of it. You are still alive because you are asked to ask questions. If you can't tell at that time, Lao Zai will be the first to kill you!"

Xiao Siwen's face turned pale, and he didn't dare to say a word...

.......

Shi Congyun led the main force of the army northward that night.

Clean up the battlefield and deal with the follow-up prisoners of war to the East Route Army of Si Chao, Wang Huan, Luo Yanhuan and others.

At the time of this battle, it was roughly estimated that at least 2 main forces of the Liao army had been captured and killed in the north of Yijin Pass that day, and the results of the battle were still expanding. The various battles in Huainan are different, this is a battle of annihilation!

Whether the follow-up recovery can achieve the greatest effect depends on whether Zhao Kuangyin's troops can capture Gu'an in time and cut off the way for the Liao army to flee north.

However, Shi Congyun received the battle report from the front while he was still leading his army north to Gu'an.

Zhao Kuangyin took the lead in detouring from Yukou Pass to the east, and ran for more than 120 miles. He arrived in Gu'an on the afternoon of the day of the battle. He captured Gu'an before the Liao army fled north, destroyed the bridge to the north of Gu'an, and then closed the city gate and stood firm. .

A large number of Liao troops were blocked in Gu'an when they fled north. Father Shi Yanchao's Long Jie elite cavalry followed and chased them, and then caught up with the Liao army outside the city of Gu'an. People were captured, and many rushed to the river to shoot and drown.

They captured 210 and six generals and officials of the Liao army at all levels and accompanying officials. Later, they also captured Yelu Talie, the king of the Southern Academy of Liao Dynasty, and Xiao Siwen, who stayed behind in Nanjing.

But it's a pity that the emperor who didn't have them still crossed the river and fled north under the desperate protection of the imperial tent.

Shi Congyun was overjoyed!

In his opinion, not catching the emperor is not a big deal at all, what he hopes is those generals and officials!

A country is a huge organization, and the emperor is not alone. In many cases, the emperor is important, but he cannot decide the fate of a country. It is decided by the backbone of the civil and military bureaucracy.

Take the Ming Dynasty as an example. Speaking of it, it is polarized. Some people think that the imperial power of the Ming Dynasty is greater than the sky, and the officials and emperors can be killed if they want to; Like Da Song.

Imperial power seems to be Schrödinger's cat, sometimes it is huge, and sometimes it is completely empty.

In fact, it is enough to use the edge of the Tumu Fort as the dividing line. Before the Tumu Fort, the imperial power of the Ming Dynasty was very large, and it was completely able to control the court and have an overview of the country's power.

After the Tumu Fortress Change, the imperial power began to be gradually evacuated, and in the end it was completely full of factions and factions.The civil servants controlled the government, and the national strategy gradually turned to conservatism and retreat, and the Song Dynasty began.

The biggest problem that caused this phenomenon was not any changes in the emperor before and after the Tumu Fort, but that during the Tumu Fort change, a large number of martial arts relatives were killed, which led to a sharp decline in the political power of the warriors. Overhead imperial power.

The death of an emperor does not guarantee to change the fate of a country, what if a new one is elected who is more powerful than the current one?This has happened many times in history.

But if many military generals and ministers of the country's backbone are killed, it can really greatly weaken a country's strength and change the country's destiny.

So when he heard that his father and Zhao Kuangyin had captured more than 200 Liao generals and civil and military officers, Shi Congyun was so excited that he immediately rushed the whole army to the north, and at the same time ordered Wang Quanbin to lead the army to the north to besiege Youzhou.

He himself led his own soldiers to Gu'an to deal with Liao officials in his father Shi Yanchao's front tent.

Chapter 245, Fate

Outside Gu'an Town, Dad Shi Congyun's camp is particularly conspicuous.

Shi Congyun came with more than a hundred soldiers, the road was muddy and dirt, and the soldiers behind him held his famous flag, the handsome flag.

On the outskirts of the camp a few miles away, he saw many soldiers of the Zhou army digging pits to bury the corpses. A large number of pale enemy heads and corpses were piled up into a hill, and the blood and rot could be smelled from far away. .

After the frontal defeat, it became a one-sided pursuit. Without reasonable organization and dispatch, stragglers could not confront established troops. The tens of miles from Yijinguan to Gu'an became the desperate road for the Liao army.

Faced with such a scene, Shi Congyun had long since become numb. He has come all the way and fought for years, so he is no stranger to it.

The horseshoes stepped on the muddy road, the weeds on the roadside turned into dark green mud, and the waist-high bushes were covered with mud spots, struggling to survive.

As he arrived, a large number of soldiers gathered around to watch and greet him. Shi Congyun was happy, and responded with a big smile, loudly saying: "Everyone has worked hard. When I go back this time, I will definitely give you credit."

The onlookers all laughed and shouted "Long Live the Commander". The soldiers separated the crowd, and Shi Congyun entered the camp surrounded by the crowd. His father and many generals under him had already been waiting there.

As soon as they saw him arrive, they all saluted: "Welcome, Commander!"

"No, no, no, everyone has worked hard." Shi Congyun waved his hands casually, then stepped forward excitedly and said, "Father, who have you caught, take me to see."

As the old man led him inside, he said, "The biggest one is the king of the South Courtyard, and there is Xiao Siwen who is left behind in Nanjing, who is the official in charge of Youzhou in the Liao Kingdom."

Shi Congyun was very excited after hearing this, "The King of the South Courtyard!"

After a while, following the old man and many generals, they came to a large open space surrounded by fences and guarded by many soldiers. There were some leather and felt inside, and the smell was stinky.

Because the conditions for the temporary construction were not good, and they were afraid that they would run away and dare not release them, more than 200 people were excreted and urinated inside.

Seeing him coming, many eyes came together.

Everyone could see that his status was unusual. Some people tried to beg him for mercy, saying words he could not understand, and some people were speaking in unfamiliar Chinese, but Shi Congyun understood what was going on.

Most of these people were embarrassed, but they were also very calm. They sat there without begging for mercy, and their eyes were like a pool of stagnant water.

The accompanying general was furious, "How dare they refuse to worship the commander-in-chief!" As he said that, he rolled up his sleeves and wanted to do something, but Shi Congyun stretched out his hand to stop him.

"It doesn't matter, I don't need them to worship." Shi Congyun said.

These words immediately made the old man and the generals beside him hesitate for a moment, with a look of worry on their faces, Shi Congyun was thoughtful and flexible, seeing their expressions, he immediately knew what they were worried about, and then smiled.

"Do you know why a certain person likes to release prisoners of war in places like Shu, Jiangnan, and Jingchu?"

The generals shook their heads.

Shi Congyun stopped and explained to them seriously: "Two reasons, first, Shu, Jiangnan, and Jingchu are relatively weak, and they are not enough to threaten our Great Zhou. The mighty virtue of the army, the soldiers who subdue others without fighting.

Second, these places have experienced more than 300 years in the Han Dynasty and 20 years in the Tang Dynasty. They have a high degree of identification with China. When the army arrives in the future, it will be logical for them to return to China. Therefore, it is not appropriate to kill more in these places. After [-] years, they will be a family. civil. "

"The commander-in-chief is far-sighted."

"The commander-in-chief always thinks so far in thinking about things, a certain one can't think of it, he just wants to kill the enemy." The crowd gathered around him and said.

But Shi Congyun looked at the prisoners of the Liao Army not far away, "But the Liao Kingdom is different. First, the Liao Kingdom is stronger than us now, and they have no worries about the future, unlike us, who send troops to the north once , not only must heavily guard the Taihang Mountain area, but also appease the Jiangnan and Shu regions, and constrain them everywhere.

For them, the first thing to do is to weaken their strength, and the first thing to weaken their national strength is...killing people. "

Shi Congyun bit the last two words very hard.

As he said that, he put away his smiling face, and his expression became serious: "Everyone, when Qin State unified Liuhe, it killed more than 110 million soldiers in total, and more than [-] were killed by Bai Qi, but in the end there was only one who killed the god butcher." Notoriety, all honors and meritorious deeds are left to King Qin.

Later generations will remember the achievements of King Qin and call Bai Qi the butcher and god of killing.

But if Bai Qi does not kill, the Six Kingdoms are not weakened, and in the end it is impossible to have the achievements of Qin. The stories in history books always talk about the machinations of princes and generals, but in the end it is the most useful to actually kill people.

All achievements and great achievements must be shed in rivers of blood..."

When it comes to this, Shi Congyun is also infinitely emotional: "But in many cases, the price is necessary.

At its root, because human nature is more evil than good.

A certain scholar once heard some scholars say that the lord of benevolence and righteousness gave up his life for the whole army and common people, so it is not an exaggeration to surrender in front of a strong enemy.This seems to make sense at first, but the premise is that the opponent is a saint, if they surrender, they will not kill, rob, or plunder, is it possible? "

Everyone shook their heads, and someone gritted their teeth and said, "They are farting! More than ten years ago, when the Later Jin surrendered, Yelude Guangbing of the Liao Kingdom entered Daliang without any resistance, and countless people in Henan and Hebei were plundered. See blood!"

This is the difference between warriors and literati. Most literati are not incompetent, but ignorant.

Living in the world of books, lacking the understanding of human nature, for most people, if they can grab something, they will never borrow it, and if they can occupy it, they don’t want to waste time and effort in producing it.

It’s just that some people who only read sage books hold benevolence, righteousness and morality themselves, and engage in moral kidnapping. horse.