Chapter 179: The height of the temple (six)

The personal guard raised the black eagle army flag. Since the black eagle dancing melon was born in Cangzhou, it has seen too much blood, fluttering in the wind, just like life.

Hou Dayong was wearing black soft armor, with a calm face, and stood in front of the team, waiting for Liu Hongye's troops to join the army.

About an hour later, a small team of cavalry appeared in the distance. Then, a large group of cavalry jumped into the elite cavalry wearing gray armor. The cavalry moved extremely quickly and instantly arrived a hundred meters in front of the Black Eagle Army's personal guard formation. With several crisp whistles, the galloping cavalry teams held their horses' heads and stopped.

Liu Hongye, Wu Yuezhou and Liu Jiangqing were wearing gray leather armor, long swords on their waists, and ox-horned bows on their backs. They walked out of the team slowly and slowly walked towards the Black Eagle Army's personal guards.

Liu Hongye looked at the flag and said to his son Liu Jiangqing sideways, "I didn't expect that Hou Dayong, the governor of the Great Zhou Dynasty, would actually go out of the city to greet us in person."

Liu Jiangqing is Liu Hongye's third son, with a pretty face and a bit bookish. The four heroes of the Liu family, Liu Jiangqing, are the most talented. After studying at Shishan College for two years, they stayed in the academy as the first place in the big exam. They were only eighteen years old at the age of eighteen. After four years of being an assistant in the academy, they worked in the army for four years. Only then did they gain the status of academy teacher and become the youngest teacher in Shishan College.

Liu Jiangqing smiled slightly and said, "The road is far away and the horse's strength is seen. Over time, the people's hearts are so cunning. We must be careful of them." Although Liu Jiangqing is a child of Jiangnan, he grew up on the Yinshan grassland and has never been to Jiangnan. He habitually calls people from the Central Plains as southerners.

Liu Hongye rebuked with a calm face: "You are already a teacher at Shishan Academy, why do you speak so ignorantly?" Liu Hongye had high expectations for his third son and was deeply in love and blamed him deeply. Although what Liu Jiangqing said was exactly what he said in his heart, he was an elder. Many things can only be understood but not clearly stated. If he said it, he would fall into a inferior position.

Liu Jiangqing's face turned slightly red and said, "Jiang Qing knew he was wrong."

Wu Yuezhou is strong and although he is an elder, he is still a front-line general of the Richie Army. The two thousand Richie Army destroyed in Lian County were once his subordinates. He squinted his eyes and looked at the Black Eagle Army, his face was gloomy, and his eyes stared at Hou Dayong like a blade. When he heard Liu Hongye teach Liu Jiangqing a lesson, Wu Yuezhou hummed softly.

After Liu Hongye and the other two arrived in front of the formation, Hou Dayong held the reins in his left hand, raised his right hand high and lowered it. When the five hundred soldiers saw this gesture, they dismounted one after another, held the reins in his hand, and stood on the left side of the war horse.

Wu Yuezhou thought to himself: The cavalry of the Black Eagle Army is indeed well-trained, and is not inferior to the elite cavalry on the grassland. No wonder he can defeat Yelu Daguang with less and more.

When Liu Hongye saw the Hei Eagle Army dismount, she immediately turned over and dismounted, led the war horse to Hou Dayong's horse. Hou Dayong also turned over and dismounted, and crossed a distance. He said with a haha: "I haven't seen each other for a day, it's like three autumns, I can't imagine that I'll kill you."

Liu Hongye walked a few steps, came to Hou Dayong, bowed respectfully, and said, "The governor went out of the city to greet him, Liu Hongye was ashamed of being." He pointed to Wuyuezhou and Liu Jiangqing said, "This is the elder of Wuyuezhou, this one is Liu Jiangqing, the son of the dog."

After Liu Chengtong returned from Richie's army, he reported in detail about the situation of Richie's army. The five elders were the core leaders of Richie's army. Liu Chengtong specifically mentioned the names and general characteristics of each elder in the report. Seeing that Wu Yuezhou was strong and his legs were slightly slim, it was probably a brave cavalry general, he bowed and said, "General Wu has been in a turbulent grassland. I have been loving it for a long time. I have been lucky to see him today." He bowed to Liu Jiangqing and said, "Good to meet. Lucky to meet."

"I have met the Jiedushi in Wuyuezhou." Wuyuezhou bowed lightly.

Wu Yuezhou is a front-line general, and he is extremely strict in the control of the army. He loves to protect his shortcomings and has a high prestige among the Richie Army. The two thousand Richie Army died in Lian County, which made him unable to let go and he never forget to compete with the Black Diao Army. During this trip to Lingzhou, Liu Hongye invited him to accompany him. On the one hand, it was to protect the safety of the goods. On the other hand, Wu Yuezhou also came to see the Black Diao Army in person to dispel his idea of ​​avenging him.

After the two armies joined forces, they headed straight to Lingzhou.

Hou Dayong intended to see the level of the Rich Cavalry. With the order, the Black Eagle Army's personal guards rode wildly. The Rich Cavalry was not to be outdone and chased them closely behind. The Black Eagle Army's personal guards were all experienced veterans with excellent riding skills. The Rich Cavalry was an eagle on the grassland. The two armies competed with their horses, and their horses were as powerful as the water flowing in the Yellow River. They were quite powerful. Not long after, the two armies saw the tall walls of Lingzhou City. Due to the short journey, the outcome of this competition was not decided.

After entering the city, the Black Eagle Army emptied the training ground for united soldiers and temporarily became the Rich Army barracks. The Rich Army soldiers have always contacted the Hu people and rarely interacted with the Central Plains people. Most of the young soldiers have never been to the big city. When the soldiers entered the city, they saw the city shops and pedestrians, and the precious goods were everywhere. They were shocked and could not express their feelings.

The base camp of the Richie tribe was in Shishan, and it has lasted for a hundred years. After the rise of the Khitan, it swept across the grasslands in the north. Shishan, where the Richie tribe is located, became the hinterland of the Khitan. Most of the roads leading to the outside world were sealed by the Khitans. The Richie tribe could only rely on some rugged and difficult paths or secret paths that cross the Gobi desert to connect with the outside world to buy necessary daily necessities. As the Dangxiang people moved eastward, the Dangxiang people exploited merchants extremely hard, and several passages in the Richie tribe were blocked by the Dangxiang people. In order to survive, the Richie tribe and the Dangxiang army broke out several large-scale conflicts. At the cost of countless blood and lives, they won two secret paths for the Richie tribe.

Most of the daily necessities of the Rich Ministry can be solved in Shishan, but some necessary daily necessities, such as salt, medicinal materials, must rely on external supply. Both secret roads are rugged and difficult to walk. Hu Qi often robbed along the way, and the transportation volume is extremely small. This greatly restricted the development of the Rich Ministry. Liu Hongye was willing to join forces with Hou Dayong. The lack of supplies in the Rich Ministry was an important reason.

During the first meeting, Liu Hongye agreed to form an alliance between the Richie army and the Black Eagle Army, and the Richie army accepted Hou Dayong's order. However, Liu Hongye made three requirements: First, the Richie army remained independent, and Hou Dayong did not send officials and troops to the Richie army; second, the Black Eagle army and the Richie army jointly opened up to maintain the passage from Shishan to Lingzhou to ensure smooth trade routes; third, he asked Hou Dayong to provide a batch of salt and medicinal materials. Wu Qilang transported the salt to the city overnight to prepare for the Richie army.

Liu Hongye, Wu Yuezhou, and Liu Jiangqing saw salt bags, medicine bags, tea bricks and silk piled up like hills, half open their mouths. They could no longer move their eyes away. They were used to tight life. Salt, medicinal materials and other items were extremely precious in Shishan. Although Liu Hongye was a great elder, he only received one pound of salt every year. He only put salt in one dish a day, and when guests came, he put salt on the two dishes. Now he suddenly saw so many salt bags, and the three of them looked at each other with complex eyes.

Liu Jiangqing was very talented, full of literary and martial arts, and always had a higher vision. At this time, when he saw such a wealth of goods, he felt a little weak in his calves. He suddenly touched his father's heart: the alliance between the Richie tribe and the Black Eagle Army was actually looking for a new way to survive.

Just as Richie's army entered the city, Liang Shouheng summoned all the officials of the Lingzhou Governor's Office and the minor officials discussed matters in the palace.

Liang Shouheng wore the governor's uniform and talked to many subordinates: "Rich's army was originally a Jiangnan clan. After being convicted, he moved to the Hetao area. During the Tang Dynasty, he moved to the foot of Yinshan Mountain. The army had been alone at the foot of Yinshan Mountain for a hundred years. These soldiers had never been to the Central Plains. The Jiedushi said that the soldiers were all wandering children. Today, the wandering children returned home. We Lingzhou people should look like we masters, so that these soldiers of Rich would feel like going home. According to the arrangement the day before yesterday, let the selected 1,000 households cook their meals and send them to the playground. As for the expenses spent by each family, the yamen will subsidize them at that time."

A thin Gongcao stood up and said, "What's the difficulty? Over the past year, Lingzhou merchants have gathered, and the people have lived much better than usual. This thousand wealthy family doesn't care about this meal. As for subsidies, it's okay to have any or not." Another minor official stood up and said, "Noon will be coming soon, and it's not time to go there. Let's go separate immediately."

On strategy. Liang Shouheng is not as good as Zhao Pu, on knowledge. He is not as good as Huo Zhixing, and on judgments and reasoning, but Qian Xiangnan is not as good as Liang Shouheng's local advantages lies in his stable affairs and fairness. Since he was appointed as the governor of Lingzhou, he has done his best to do things. There are many people in Lingzhou City.

Liang Shouheng was already fat. He twisted his beard as he was getting thicker and thicker, with a happy face and said, "Since everyone is so sure, let's act separately and do good things well. I set up a bell in the yamen. When the bell rang three times, everyone gathered at the yamen and we went to the military camp together."

Since his first secret talk with Liu Hongye, Hou Dayong keenly noticed the weakness of the Richie tribe. Hou Dayong held a banquet to entertain Liu Hongye, Wu Yuezhou and Liu Jiangqing, the best restaurant in Lingzhou City, the city's best restaurant, Qingcheng Restaurant, to entertain Liu Hongye, Wu Yuezhou and Liu Jiangqing, intending to let Liu Hongye see the prosperity and prosperity of Lingzhou and strengthen his desire to surrender.

Qingcheng Restaurant is a rare three-story restaurant in the northwest. After the Shu merchant Zhao Jie moved to Lingzhou, Zhao Jie and Hou Dayong used the brand of Fujian tea and made a fortune. After moving to Lingzhou, Zhao Jie often heard friends complaining that there was no good restaurant in Lingzhou. Under Hou Dayong's encouragement, he spent a lot of money to build this three-story high-rise Qingcheng Restaurant. Due to sufficient funds, the restaurant was successfully built in just one year. Qingcheng Restaurant removed the cumbersome carvings of Shu and had more rough atmosphere in the north. Zhao Jie invited famous calligraphers and wrote the store name. He also specially invited several good chefs from Chengdu Prefecture. Qingcheng Restaurant opened and started a shot, becoming the best place for leisure gatherings and negotiations for business in Lingzhou.

When Zhao Jie heard that Hou Dayong was going to entertain the elders of the Richie Department in the restaurant, he naturally did not dare to neglect it. The best way to leave all the third floor was to Hou Dayong. No foreign guests were accepted on the third floor, and he focused on receiving the Jiedu and his party.

Shi Hu and Liu Chengtong were invited to attend the banquet at the Qingcheng Restaurant. The six people talked about interesting stories about the Hu Hu in the northwest and had a great time.

A few intense and crisp bells suddenly rang in the city, and then the voices were noisy. Hou Dayong laughed and said, "The people in the city heard that the Richie troops were coming today, and they were going to the military camp to work hard."

Qingcheng Restaurant is the second tallest building in Lingzhou City. Six people stood in front of the window, and the street view was unobstructed. There were countless men and women on the street, holding buckets, basins, and baskets, walking towards the training camp. There were many sling boys fighting and chasing in the team, and the shouts and reprimanding sounds of adults were constantly heard.

Liu Hongye and Wu Yuezhou looked at each other. Both of them were both military and political. Although they had nothing to say, they had the same intentions: the people of Lingzhou were obviously prepared for this move, which must be Hou Dayong's intention. Hou Dayong's ability to have such a heart shows his sincerity.

Liu Hongye bowed deeply and said, "Mr. Liu thanked the governor for the soldiers."

Hou Dayong waved his hand habitually and said, "Why don't you talk about Xie? Although the Richie tribe has left his hometown for a hundred years, his blood is thicker than water. You will always be Chinese people."

"Blood is thicker than water." Wu Yuezhou recited it silently several times in his mind.

The Richie tribe lived at the foot of Yinshan for a hundred years. Many small tribes such as Pugu and Tongluo regarded it as a friend and very friendly neighbor. However, the Dangxiang and Khitan had never stopped conquering the Richie tribe. The Richie tribe survived tenaciously in blood and fire. When Hou Dayong said "blood is thicker than water", the three of them felt the same.

Hou Dayong glanced at Liu Chengtong, and Liu Chengtong clapped his hands knowingly.

Several women holding pipas walked outside the house. After sitting down, a woman first wrote a song "Spring River Moon Night". This song is very ordinary, and the women's bullets are also regular and there is no place to be found. The second song changes the tune. The melody is quite low and sad. Liu Jiangqing is proficient in the music. When he hears such a novel song, he is not very interested.

After the song passed, a woman in purple sang: "Do you know that Richie is not my real name. I have been away from you for too long, mother! But what they have taken away is my body. You still keep my soul in my heart, and you have never forgotten my biological mother for a hundred years. Please call me your nickname and call me Jiangnan, mother! Mother! I want to come back! Mother! Mother!"

This song was adapted by Hou Dayong based on Mr. Wen Yiduo's "Song of the Seven Sons". The tune comes from another world. Hou Dayong slightly changed a few words and compiled it into "Song of Richie".

Liu Hongye and Wu Yuezhou have taught in Shishan Academy, and they are all good at piano, chess, calligraphy and painting. When they first heard this song, they felt that the tune was strange and the lyrics were purely country slang, which was crude. However, when the women sang together for the second time, they felt that each word was penetrated deep in their hearts, like a fine needle repeatedly pricking the softest part of their hearts. When several women sang it to the third time, tears burst out from Wu Yuezhou.

The six people returned to the banquet and settled down. The atmosphere was a little stagnant for a while.

Hou Dayong was the first to speak, saying, "Liu Lang said that Shishan has been in charge of the charity school for six years and has also built Shishan Academy. It is lonely on the grassland but does not lose tradition. The Richie tribe is really amazing." Hou Dayong's praise comes from sincerity. The Richie tribe has only a few ten thousand people, and has become a powerful tribe on the grassland for a hundred years. It is indeed unique.

"We also run Songshan Academy in Lingzhou, but we have always lacked teachers. Shishan Academy has a history of a hundred years and has a strong teaching force, far from comparable to Songshan Academy. I took the liberty and wanted to ask Shishan Academy to send some teachers to Songshan Academy to teach and help us run Songshan Academy well, and mostly cultivate talents for the Black Diao Army and Lingzhou."

After five generations of civil strife, the Central Plains had already lost their genius. The status of scholars was sunset and became a vassal of the military land. Instead, they were in the Richie tribe in the grassland. They opened Yixue and academies in Shishan. The whole clan was well versed in the high quality and had surpassed that of the Central Plains. Liu Hongye was very proud of Shishan Academy. Hou Dayong's words happened to be as slutty as Liu Hongye. He thought for a moment, looked at Liu Jiangqing and said, "The dog son teaches in Shishan Academy. If he does not abandon it, he can lead ten people to Songshan Academy to be students."

When Liu Chengtong entered Shishan, he knew that the teachers of Shishan Academy were outstanding. Liu Jiangqing was in his twenties and could work in the academy. He could not help but look at Liu Jiangqing a few more times.

Hou Dayong smiled and said, "It's of course the best thing to stay." The topic suddenly changed and said, "The Richie Department is full of talents, but the Richie Department is limited to a place and there are so many talents but cannot play a role. It's a waste. I have two suggestions. One is to select some children to serve in the Black Eagle Army, or to serve local officials in Lingzhou, Tongxin City, Xihuizhou, Jingyuan and other places. The other is to select some outstanding talents and I will be admitted to the capital to take the exam."

After Shi Hu and Hou Dayong talked with sincerity, although they were still taciturn, the heavy psychological burden was relieved. He moved in his heart: cultivating oneself, managing the family, governing the country and pacifying the world has always been the ambition of scholars. Richie's tribe comes from the Jiangnan gentry, and it is difficult for him to refuse such suggestions. If the Richie's tribe talents take the imperial examination and with Hou Dayong's status as the prime minister in the dynasty, many Richie's tribes will definitely be able to enter the court. These people are naturally loyal to Hou Dayong and become the backbone of the Hou faction.

Shi Hu couldn't help but admire Hou Dayong's seamless arrangement: Hou Dayong brought up such a scheming and calculating plan while talking and laughing, and it was really serious.

Liu Jiangqing had great ambitions, and the Richie tribe had a good scholar. He suffered from the conditions of the stone mountain and could only live a life of the mountains and forests. Now a door to the vast world outside was gently pushed open by the person in front of him. Liu Jiangqing couldn't help but ask, "Is the Jiedushi willing to recommend the Richie tribe to the capital to take the exam?"

Hou Dayong had already seen the burning light in Liu Jiangqing's eyes and smiled confidently: "Of course." Liu Chengtong was born in a Jinshi. He smiled: "Lingzhou is located in a border area. The people are tough in nature, but their literary style is not strong. They have not won the Jinshi in the past twenty years. There are very few officials from Lingzhou in the court. If the Richi tribe can participate in the major examination of the Ministry of Rites, they will definitely add luster to Lingzhou."

Liu Hongye, Wu Yuezhou looked at each other again, and Liu Hongye sighed: "If the well-educated people from the Richie tribe heard this news, they would definitely shed tears."

Wu Yuezhou suddenly slapped Hu Table and said sadly: "The Jiedushi is so wise and admires me very much. Alas, the 2,000-liter soldier outside Lian County died so unfairly. This account must be settled on Yelu's bald head."
Chapter completed!