Devil’s Advent

The rain in Litian City is falling and falling, and it is quite a kind of weather during the rainy season;

And this day,

It was the day of Madam Jingnanhou's funeral.

There are no special arrangements for most of them, and it even seems a bit too simple in official terms.

However, this kind of "quietness" is only reflected in the official face, and it does not mean that there is little movement.

There was no advance notice, no organization or notification, but on the streets of Litian City, wherever the funeral procession would pass by, residents and merchants spontaneously set up incense cases at their doorsteps in advance.

When the funeral procession in white clothes passed by, the people on both sides of the street began to light candles and paper money, and the whole family knelt down.

Someone was crying, and slowly, many people started crying.

How many years later, if Dayan is still orthodox, historians or local chronicles may record today's scene like this. It is generally about how gentle and virtuous Mrs. Jingnan Hou is, how much she loves the people like a son, and strengthens the ethnic groups in Yan and Jin. Fusion;

When he passed away, the people of Jin took the initiative to attend the funeral for him, and the crying sounded for dozens of miles, which was moving.

But in fact, most of the people in Litian City here may not be pretending to cry, but it is not because of sadness, but because the anxiety and uneasiness entrenched in their hearts dissipated with this funeral... Weeping with joy.

The previous depression made everyone in the city breathless. They were all worried about how the Yan people would retaliate, and they were also afraid that the Yan people's Nanhou would act out of anger in a fit of anger. It's about beauty.

When people have been suppressed for a long time, once they are released, it is natural for them to lose control of their emotions.

The funeral, the funeral, and the coffin, in the eyes of the vast majority of people, things are developing on the way they should go, and this is a good thing.

Everyone's life can go on as usual.

On the day of the funeral, the Jingnan Army who had just returned from the expedition also rushed to Litian City, and the flying dust explained their hardships after returning from the long march.

But, things seem to have settled down.

The four general officers of the Jingnan Army who made the expedition dismounted in person, stepped forward to carry the coffin, and saw off their mistress for the last journey. Arrange all the way down.

The Marquis, who went up the mountain to pray for the Marquis, was deeply worried, triggered a heart attack, and died.

This is speaking to the outside world. It is not clear how many people can believe it, and there is no need to find out.

The fire on Tianhu Mountain burned intermittently for two days, and no one dared to count how many Taoist priests died.

These days, too many things have happened, and most people can only sway along with the tide, and can no longer care about other things.

What's interesting is that a large group of envoys sent by their masters to congratulate and give gifts to Lord Jingnan for his precious son all caught up to attend the funeral.

And the huge earthquake that seemed to be about to set off a thousand layers of waves,

After making enough posture that the mountain rain is about to come and the wind is full of the building,

But with an extremely strange posture, it disappeared into the invisible.

It is very similar to the weather in the Litian City and the land boundary at this time,

Sometimes the sky is clear and sometimes it rains heavily, which is unpredictable.

………

at night,

in the inn,

Zheng Fan, whose left arm was still tied with a white gauze, silently drank the tea in front of him. Outside the door, a person came in. After entering, the visitor bowed his hands to Zheng Fan, and said apologetically:

"The slave came late, and kept Mr. Zheng waiting for a long time. I hope Mr. Zheng will forgive me."

Zheng Fan nodded and said nothing.

Eunuch Zhang carefully sat down in front of Zheng Fan, stretched out his hand and poured himself a cup of tea, drank it all in one go, poured another cup, then sighed, and said:

"There are too many things today."

Zheng Fan put the teacup in his hand on the table. He was in a bad mood today, so he didn't bother to flatter and be polite.

Eunuch Zhang could only feel a little bit of emotion in his heart, thinking that the person in front of him saved His Highness at all costs, as if climbing a high branch, not to mention His Highness, he was also respectful to himself, but now, his wings are hardened, hehe.

Of course, Eunuch Zhang also knows that Zheng Fan does have the capital with strong wings. Leaving aside the fact that the Marquis of Jingnan values ​​him, Zheng Fan himself is also up to the task, and his military achievements are not young or old. You need to give him a chance, it's hard not to jump up.

On the other hand, my master has been shaved and beaten by His Majesty in the past six months, and his wings on the bright side have been shaved to pieces. Leaving aside the little old background behind the scenes, his master's opportunity can be There was a stark contrast between what he said and Zheng Chengshou in front of him.

"Master Zheng, Your Highness, I miss Mr. Zheng very much."

"Ahem..."

Zheng Fan felt like he had caught a cold. Logically speaking, his physical fitness should be very good. As a martial artist, it would be too embarrassing if your physical fitness is not up to par.

It's just that after half a year's expedition, and then the long-distance trip back to Litian City, my body was a bit overdrawn. It's normal to catch wind and cold in this damn weather.

"I also think His Highness is thinking too hard, Eunuch Zhang, how is Your Highness doing recently?"

"Very bad."

"oh."

"Master Zheng, now my master can't help Mr. Zheng much."

In the past, when you first started, you sent castles, food, war horses, ordnance, but now, under the balance of each other, even if you want the Sixth Highness to go for blood transfusions, you can’t squeeze anything out.

"I'm doing well now, please tell Your Highness, please don't worry about me."

"I think His Highness should be very happy to hear this."

"Eunuch Zhang, can you tell the truth, I'm sorry, I'm in a bad mood and I'm not feeling well recently, and you don't have to speak in a weird way, it's quite boring."

"Er..." Eunuch Zhang.

"I am a human being, and His Royal Highness the Sixth Highness also knows this, so there is no need for you, father-in-law, to test here."

"It's the slave Meng Lang."

Eunuch Zhang got up to plead guilty, but he could hear it in his heart. The person in front of him obviously put himself in the same position as his master.

"Speak the truth."

"Okay, Mr. Zheng, this time with the slaves, there are hundreds of shopkeepers and caravan leaders."

"so much?"

"It's all from my hometown. After the Ministry of Finance took over the business of His Royal Highness, some of them were squeezed out, but most of them were directly quit by themselves. They are all from my own family. Mr. Zheng can use them with confidence."

"OK."

Talents are rare. In Shengle City, even if quality education is promoted now, it is also a plan for future development. At present, this kind of real business and management talents are still needed to run everything. I think this group of people came to Shengle After that, it will definitely play a great role.

"Also, there is one more thing, Mr. Zheng should know in advance."

"What is it?"

"The prince will get married in autumn."

"The princess of Zhenbei Houfu?"

"Exactly."

Zheng Fan nodded. This was something everyone had tacitly agreed to, but it was now on the agenda. Counting the days, it won't be long.

"In addition, the eldest prince will lead the Zhenbei Army in the two towns to change defenses on the way to see off relatives."

"Exchange it with the forbidden army?"

"yes."

When the Three Kingdoms War started, the eldest prince Ji Wujiang led nearly 100,000 forbidden troops to reinforce Beifeng County. Now, it is equivalent to leaving the forbidden troops in the north and bringing back 100,000 troops from the north.

The quality of the imperial army is clear to all soldiers. This is undoubtedly a blood exchange, but to a certain extent, it is the dowry of the Zhenbei Houfu.

It is a good move to withdraw the frontier army to enrich Beijing.

In this way, the original 300,000 Zhenbei Army, after a big battle, first lost a lot of themselves, even if they quickly replenished recruits, but in the northern part of the newly promoted land, Li Bao's corps was stationed in Quhe City. That is, one town was separated from the six towns of the Zhenbei Army. This time, the eldest prince led 100,000 troops to transfer to Yanjing, which means that the mighty 300,000 Zhenbei Army had already been demolished in half. .

The officials of Qian State should be very envious of Emperor Yan's "directness". You must know that although the court of Qian State is beginning to liquidate and squeeze the issue of empty pay and army water injection, it still mainly uses soft methods, because it can The vested interest class serving as the generals of the forbidden army in Beijing has a very close relationship with the court, and it can even be said to be a force of its own.

In fact, both sides discovered the problem of the lack of combat effectiveness of the imperial army during the war, and Emperor Yan directly threw the imperial army in Beijing to Beifeng County to eat sand for exercise.

"Your Majesty, I am really willing to do so."

Zheng Fan said with emotion.

It doesn't matter whether Zhenbeihou is willing or not. According to the relationship between Zhenbeihou and His Majesty, the two brothers are so good that they can wear a pair of trousers soon. This time, their daughter is getting married again. It is reasonable and reasonable to give 100,000 cavalry as a dowry.

It is conceivable that the princess will be one of the most powerful concubines in history, whoever has a dowry of 100,000 to guard the Northern Army will not be able to keep a low profile.

At the same time, this is also the family of the prince's wife. Whether it is ancient or modern, it is commonplace to conclude a covenant between two forces in the name of husband and wife.

The rest of the emperors were all focused on preventing the crown prince's power from becoming too powerful, for fear that he would become the supreme emperor directly, but Emperor Yan was really free and easy, and directly gave the prince military power, and he was still in the capital.

"Master Zheng, what my Highness means is that it may become more and more difficult for him to stay in Beijing."

This time, I was whipped by my own emperor Lao Tzu every now and then. Today, I will push my mother's grave, and tomorrow I will take away your concubine Ji, and throw your face on the ground. If you are happy, you will step on it, and if you are not happy, you will step on it. This kind of day , It is simply not human.

"Your Highness wants to leave Beijing?" Zheng Fan asked.

Isn't this courting death?

And if Xiaoliuzi told his father that he would come to Shengle City to find him, to defend the country and contribute to the border,

Believe it or not, the emperor and I cleaned up together with him?

"His Highness wants to ask His Majesty for a county magistrate below Tiancheng County."

"Oh, that's fine."

Tiancheng County can be regarded as the land of Gyeonggi in a broad sense, and it is not out of Yanhuang's eyes. If the little six go out in this way, they can take a little breather. Of course, whether they can make it or not depends on Yanhuang's will.

"The last thing is that the slave asked Mr. Zheng on behalf of my master. When the slave came, the master didn't give any instructions, but the slave felt that when he went back, the master would definitely ask."

"go ahead."

"Master Zheng thinks, this time, is this the end?"

Zheng Fan shook his head,

road:

"I don't know either."

Some things can be hidden from the people, but cannot be hidden from the real elite.

The identity of Mrs. Jingnan Hou and the death of the Grand Master in the palace, no matter how well concealed they are, they can't hide from the eyes and ears of those who are interested. What should be known, will be known.

Zheng Fan actually had a feeling in his heart that this time, the Marquis of Jingnan turned white all night, and even said the word "Jingnan" to himself;

In the end, it comes down to this kind of calmness in the way of attending funerals.

No matter what, I felt that the attitude that Jingnan Hou showed in front of him earlier was a little too extreme.

Maybe others didn't feel this way, because there were only me and Jingnan Hou in front of the mourning hall that day, and this was the feeling that belonged exclusively to Zheng Fan, who had "personal experience".

To put it bluntly, even if Little Six was sitting in front of him and talking about it to him, Zheng Fan might not tell him all the truth, let alone rely on this Eunuch Zhang in front of him to spread the word.

In terms of intimacy, Zheng Fan still feels that he is closer to Tian Wujing than a scumbag.

"Okay, I understand. I will take my leave now. I will return to Beijing tomorrow. Here, I wish Master Zheng all the best."

After finishing speaking, Eunuch Zhang left, and the spies meeting was also declared over.

A Ming who was outside the door came in and said:

"How was the chat?"

Zheng Fan shook his head, "Talked some nonsense, that's enough, let's go back, drink some ginger soup and sleep."

"My lord, the blind man hasn't arrived yet, could something happen on the way?"

"He can take care of himself. I'm very relieved. Anyone will have an accident, and his probability of accident will always be the lowest."

Zheng Fan didn't live in the barracks. First, he didn't bring his troops. Second, Zheng Fan didn't like the environment of the barracks. However, living in the Hou Mansion was not suitable at this time. Zheng Fan simply lived in a family not far from the Hou Mansion. Tiancheng rented two rooms in the most famous restaurant inn, which is also convenient for Tian Wujing to call himself in case something happens, although Tian Wujing has never shown up since returning from Tianhu Mountain that day, nor shouted to myself.

But after all, Zheng Fan is a celebrity in front of Lord Hou, and a celebrity should have the basic treatment of a celebrity. Even the discipline officer of the Jingnan Army, who is known for his ruthlessness and selflessness, deliberately turned a blind eye to such unruly things. Close one eye.

However, as soon as Zheng Fan and A Ming walked to the entrance of the inn, they saw two rows of soldiers lined up at the entrance of the inn.

When Zheng Fan walked in, he saw an ordering captain standing in the middle of the inn lobby, and beside him stood a general in his early thirties.

Seeing Zheng Fan coming in, he ordered the school lieutenant to raise the military token in his hand. This is the token of the Marquis of Jingnan. If you see this token, if you see the Marquis, it is usually issued by the messenger when it is used to pass on the military orders of the Marquis.

"Master Hou has an order, Shengle City guard Zheng Fan obeys the order!"

Zheng Fan immediately knelt down on one knee, and A Ming behind him also knelt down.

"Sheng Le City guarded Zheng Fan, who went on expeditions to the snowfields and made many military exploits. Since ancient times, mistakes must be punished and achievements must be rewarded. Only then can people's hearts be corrected and the morale of the army established.

It is specially mentioned that Zheng Fan Shengle City Guard is General Shengle, and Li Yiyong's 5,000 Jin camps go north to Shengle, and they are assigned to General Shengle to guard against border troubles! "

For more than ten years, in the Jingnan Army, it was basically the Marquis of Jingnan's decision. Rewards and punishments were decided by the Marquis of Jingnan, even for this kind of promotion.

The entire Jingnan Army has long been familiar with this.

In other words, without this kind of decision-making power and autonomy, Tian Wujing would not have been able to bring out such a powerful army that is not inferior to the Northern Army in the past ten years.

Of course, the king now pays attention to it. If the story is turned over in the future, it will inevitably be used as evidence that the Marquis of Jingnan has no intention of hiding the trouble.

General Sheng Le?

This is a direct upgrade of his rank, which is a bit similar to that of a guerrilla general, but because he has his own territory and defense area, he is actually half a head higher than the average guerrilla general.

Of course, Zheng Fan didn't care much about whether he was an official or not. What he really cared about was the Wuqianjin barracks.

The Yan State entered Jin and destroyed half of the Jin State. Except for those who died in the battle, some of the Jin army was reduced to routs and entered the capital or into the Situ family, and some were treated as slaves. The labor force, and some of them who know the current affairs are outstanding, and those with good quality are incorporated into the servant army.

The 5,000 soldiers and horses were still selected by the Jingnan Army. This quality is definitely not bad. After all, the quality of the three Jin knights is actually not bad.

At this time, the general who was standing beside him knelt down on one knee facing Zheng Fan,

"Li Yiyong, the last general, see General Zheng. In the future, the last general and the brothers under his command will be driven by General Zheng and make contributions to my Great Yan!"

Zheng Fan took a deep breath,

After the surprise,

is somewhat suspicious,

Lao Tian didn't even show up for the funeral.

But he suddenly promoted himself, not to mention the promotion, and directly stuffed himself with soldiers and horses. You must know that the five thousand Jin battalions are all equipped with horses and armaments, so you don't have to think of ways to equip them.

In the past, Tian Wujing always pressed himself not to be promoted with a reason to polish himself, but now he suddenly stuffed himself with sweet dates, people, sometimes they are cheap, Zheng Fan felt a little flustered.

At this time, a soldier next to him came over holding a long box.

The commander-in-chief continued:

"Hou Ye gave General Sheng Le Zheng Fan a famous sword, and hope that General Sheng Le Zheng Fan will guard the frontier like a sharp sword, and protect my people of Great Swallow from harm."

sword?

I use a knife.

At this time, the messenger captain put away the token, and said to Zheng Fan in a kind and pleasant tone:

"General Zheng, come up and take the sword."

Zheng Fan got up and walked to Chang He.

The captain of the herald reached out to open the box,

A sword with a simple hilt and a red body lay quietly in the long box.

Some things, its value, even a layman can tell at a glance, Zheng Fan doesn't play with swords, he is used to using knives, but the sword in front of him can be seen clearly at a glance, it is definitely a famous sword in the world.

"This sword is called..."

The captain immediately replied:

"Dragon Yuan."