A roar of arrow sounded in the woods, and the feathered arrows passed through the gap between the narrow forests, and drilled into the buttocks of a colorful tiger running for desperate times. They were almost featherless. The giant wailed, and its huge body fell to the ground, roaring in pain, rolling, and struggling. In the end, it was stuck between the two small trees, without a trace of sound.

There was a thunderous cheer sound in the woods, and a group of soldiers holding bows and arrows appeared from the woods. They looked at Tuobayan with a long bow in awe and flashed out from a big tree lazily.

"General, good archery skills." Several soldiers dragged the giant figure to Tuobayan. "There is no injuries on his body. If he peeled it off, it was a complete tiger skin. It was rare to see such a big insect."

Tuobayan kicked the tiger that could not die again: "Skin, but be careful. This tiger is indeed rare. I want to present this tiger skin to the Grand Marshal as a gift. If it is bad, take care of your skin."

"Don't worry, General, do this, we are an expert!" Several soldiers laughed.

"Clearn the skin carefully, peel the meat into small pieces, take it back. The harvest is good today. Brothers can improve the food tonight." Tuobayan laughed and walked to the shade of a big tree, closing her eyes and pretending to sleep.

In a blink of an eye, it had been more than a year since the Hengduan Mountains. When Guo Xiancheng arrived at the Hengduan Mountains, it was facing an unprecedented crisis. After a large number of soldiers were drawn to the battlefield against Chu, it suddenly faced Xiao Qiang's Hulao Pass army's attack. At that time, in Guo Xiancheng's hands, besides the thousands of defending soldiers left behind by the Hengduan Mountains, the only one who was truly combative was the three thousand cavalry led by Tuobayan.

The Hengduan Mountains are basically all mountainous areas. For cavalry, the operation is very restricted. Fortunately, the main body of the Tuobayan unit is mainly barbarians, and barbarians are indeed very good at fighting in the mountains. More importantly, they can be used as cavalry when they get on horseback and become infantry when they get off horseback, and their combat effectiveness is not bad at all.

Another army was the other three thousand Qi troops led by Qi generals Zhang Bai and Huang An. However, these three thousand people were surrounded by a few pots of porridge on Mopan Mountain during the battle against the Ming Dynasty, which completely shattered their pride as a soldier. The then general Cao Ge committed suicide after the rescue, and generals like Zhang Bai and Huang An were naturally not favored by the court, so they were also stuffed into the Hengduan Mountains.

This is the most miserable place on the border line where all Qi troops stationed. It is located in the deep mountains and is rarely visited. It is very difficult to raise and transport supplies. Once it encounters rainy season or heavy snow in winter, it is common to lose food. Therefore, there has never been too many troops here. First, it is stationed here, and the burden is too heavy. Second, the Qi people did not take the Qin people seriously and threw a force in the Hengduan Mountains as a warning. Once something happened, the Qi State could mobilize troops from the rear. The steepness of the Hengduan Mountains was enough to greatly delay the enemy's actions.

This Qi army with 3,000 people was completely devoid of energy. After being sent here, he was even more disheartened and was getting more and more depressed day by day. The morale and military discipline were getting worse day by day. Guo Xiancheng knew it well and did not place his hope on them. He usually only used them to do some work of keeping watch, doing odd jobs, and transporting logistics. What he really relied on was the 3,000 troops of Tuobayan and the 3,000 Qi army that was originally left behind.

It was also thanks to these 6,000 people that Guo Xiancheng successfully blocked Xiao Qiang's attack in the Hengduan Mountains. Xiao Qiang, who was already indifferent, immediately retreated after being blocked from his tentative attacks. The next battle was loud and the raindrops became smaller. As the battle between Qi Chu became clear, he simply retreated back to the front line of Qin's control.

For Tuobayan, the biggest advantage of following Guo Xiancheng to the Hengduan Mountains this time was to completely tie him and Guo Xiancheng. In addition to Tuobayan and his cavalry, Guo Xiancheng almost went to the Hengduan Mountains with nakedness. As a defeated general, Qi general who was originally left in the Hengduan Mountains was not very tempted by Guo Xiancheng. In the early days of fighting against Qin, the only thing Guo Xiancheng could rely on was Tuobayan.

Tuobayan did not let down his responsibilities and fought against the Qin army in Hulao Pass several times, which not only satisfied Guo Xiancheng, but also made the Qi generals who were originally staying here shut their mouths together, not daring to underestimate the army composed of the barbarians in their eyes.

In April, all the Qi army stationed in the Hengduan Mountains unexpectedly happened. Guo Xiancheng, who lost nothing on the battlefield against Ming, was appointed as the commander of all the troops of Qi and replaced the original commander Cao Yun. In this position, everyone originally thought that Zhou Jiyun would undoubtedly be the position.

Cao Yun led the Qi army for many years, and had made too much contribution and had no rewards. His only way out was to resign from this position. This was not much surprise to the government and the people of Qi. He was very successful and had great power. This was not a good thing for the king and the ministers. It was the best choice for Cao Yun. He retired at this moment, and it was also considered that the king and his ministers would be together and part.

But what no one expected was that when Cao Yun retreated, he strongly recommended the defeated general Guo Xiancheng. This naturally caused a great shock to the court and the country. Most of the court and the country supported Zhou Jiyun. Zhou Jiyun won a huge victory on the battlefield of Chu. His troops were the first to capture Kunling Pass, and then took advantage of the opportunity to sweep the left and right, and included all the six eastern counties of Chu into the territory of Qi. More importantly, when doing these things, Zhou Jiyun was sitting here, and personally led the cavalry to surround Jiang Tao, the Chu general who was raging several counties in Qi at that time, and then led his troops straight in. Finally, in Qi, the Chu general An Ruhai, and defeated all the soldiers and horses to An Ruhai and the riots he mobilized. This was a huge favor. Countless noble gentry of Chu, because of Zhou Ji's actions, not only saved their lives, but also their property.

Zhou Jiyun, who did these, naturally had a greater reputation and received more support.

But Cao Yun recommended that Guo Xiancheng, who did nothing in this battle, inherited his position. Not only Cao Yun, but also the chief assistant Tian Feng also discussed Cao Yun. It is said that another minister who has great power, Cao Hui, who has never appeared in the court, also wrote a memorial to approve of Guo Xiancheng.

Most people in the court and the public agreed with Zhou Jiyun, but the people who really held the power turned to Guo Xiancheng. The opinions of the whole country of Qi seemed extremely strange.

In the end, Emperor Qi made a decision. Guo Xiancheng took over, and Zhou Jiyun was also promoted to general, under Guo Xiancheng. This gave Zhou Jiyun a little comfort.

"This is to put me on the fire." After receiving the imperial edict, Guo Xiancheng said to Tuobayan, who had been relied on as his confidant Gancheng. "I am waiting for sin. When I arrived at the Hengduan Mountains, although I suppressed the intention of Qin, Xiao Qiang was not interested in attacking at all. He was forced by the Ming people. I am not worthy of me at all. However, Zhou Jiyun was a great military achievement this time and was highly regarded by the public. With the candidate for the great commander who almost everyone was convinced, he was determined to win. As a result, this big peach fell on my head. Do you think Zhou Jiyun would be convinced? The officials who supported him in the court and the country were convinced?"

"The Grand Marshal is too worried." Tuobayan said: "It is enough to have His Majesty's support. Besides, the prince and the prime minister also support the Grand Marshal, which is enough. Others are buzzing like mosquitoes, and don't pay attention to it."

Guo Xiancheng smiled bitterly and patted Tuobayan on the shoulder, "You, as a general who leads troops to fight, naturally there are no so many worries, but I am different. The commander of the First Army has to consider too many things. If you cannot achieve the expectations of the public, how can you use your fingers like an arm? Then a few people will come to you to interfere with you, and you will be unable to take care of it."

"Since that's the case, why did Your Majesty choose the Grand Marshal?" Tuobayan was puzzled.

"Of course, Your Majesty needs a weak commander." Guo Xiancheng sighed: "I have basically understood Your Majesty's intentions. Tuobayan, I am afraid that I will be the last commander of the entire army in the Great Qi Dynasty. In the future, there will be no more position. Well, just like the Ming people, the true command of the army will always be in the hands of their emperor. The rest are pawns. Like Li Zhi, the extremely powerful military commander like our prince Cao Yun will never appear again."

"Master, since that's the case, what's the point of worrying about you?" Tuobayan smiled and said, "Your Majesty has made up your mind. Then what you have to do is to satisfy Your Majesty. Do as your Majesty wishes, at least you can escape unscathed. What else, what else can you do? Zhou Jiyun, if you don't want to be your position, it would be fine. If he doesn't give up, he is afraid that the trouble will come to his head, and he still doesn't know what kind of person is there to worry about."

After hearing Tuobayan's words, Guo Xiancheng was stunned for a while before suddenly awakening and laughed loudly: "I am really confused by the authorities. I am not as clear as you, a barbarian. You are right. Follow Your Majesty and help Your Majesty complete the command of the army to Your Majesty. For me, I have completed the heavy trust that Your Majesty has given me. Good boy, have vision."

"The Grandmaster praised it, I just said it casually." Tuobayan said with a blink of an eye.
Chapter completed!