Warrior in Turbulent Han Dynasty

On the post road, Han Lingkun and more than a hundred horsemen were galloping, the sound of rumbling horseshoes covered the sky with dust and mist, and the hundreds of war horses ran like crazy. Occasionally, a traveler gave way to the side of the road early, waiting for these arrogant warriors to swagger past.

After walking on the road for several days, Han Lingkun shouted loudly: "Send someone first to see if there is a pontoon bridge on the Yellow River!"

The Privy Council ordered Han Lingkun, the commander of the guard Ma Junsi, to return to Beijing immediately to report on his duties. Han Lingkun knew about what happened in Tokyo, and also understood his relationship with Zhao Kuangyin, but after weighing the gains and losses, he was still not ready to disobey.

If you don't obey the military order of the Privy Council, you will either flee or openly disobey the order and raise troops. Neither is a good choice, even he doesn't know where Zhao Kuangyin is now, and has nowhere to go; even if he knows, Zhao Kuangyin has nothing now, so what's the benefit of abandoning his wife and running there? Han Lingkun's wife and children are in Tokyo.

Raising troops is not the best policy. You don't need the imperial army to do it. Fu Yanqing of Hebei can mobilize the surrounding troops to destroy him... Because the family members of the soldiers in the left wing of the Long Jie army are also in Tokyo, there is no reason to rush to raise troops. I guess everyone doesn't want to work for Han Lingkun alone.

It is not too dangerous to be ordered to go back. Han Lingkun speculates that there are two possibilities. One is that the court is worried that he will take the forbidden army out to test him, and the other is that he wants to take the opportunity to demote the forbidden army to serve as a local envoy. The danger of taking him directly is relatively small. Zhao Kuangyin has been a general for several years, and there are many brothers in the imperial army. The higher-ups cannot take Han Lingkun alone.

Han Lingkun decided to behave first, and go back to see the situation.

A few days later, he arrived in Tokyo, and first went to meet with two generals he knew and had a talk, but nothing happened.

At this time, Li Chongjin had been completely stripped of his military post in the imperial army, and he was still in Hedong as a Jiedushi with a big Zhongshuling title on his head. Han Tong, the bodyguard of Ma Busi, has been promoted to the commander of Ma Budu, officially taking the top spot. Han Lingkun then went to the Guards Office to report to Han Tong.

Han Tong stared at him and told him in a tough tone to report on the situation on the Hebei border, but no one cared about him. Han Lingkun felt relieved immediately, and went to see another brother, Yang Guangyi, in the evening, and they talked at night by candlelight.

...

Early the next morning, it was still dark, and even the domestic rooster hadn't started crowing. In an ordinary yard in the northern part of Tokyo's outer city, Li Ergen, a captain of the Cavalry Army, was ready to go on duty. He put on his armor, hung up a waist knife, and saw servants leading three horses over. Li Ergen handed a rein to a burly man wearing a cape and robes next to him: "Commander Wang, don't blame me for being ill-mannered last night."

The tall and strong man called Commander Wang said: "Three years ago, you and I were brothers. Even if there are high or low positions now, there is no distinction between high and low brotherhood."

Li Ergen said: "Good brother! It's a pity that it's my turn to be on duty today, so I can't drink again."

"Just going out with brother Li." Wang commanded.

"Please!" After Li Ergen finished speaking, he glanced at the other big man beside Commander Wang, and said in a deep voice, "Brother Li's boss Yang Dushi really said it's all right?"

Commander Wang said: "Yang Guangyi used to be Zhao Dushi's brother, and he knew the general of the Forbidden Army. He said it's okay, and he must be fine for a while... Besides, people of our level, who has free time management? The people above don't even know who we are. It is said that Zhang Yongde was inspected in front of the palace. He has been in the front of the palace for so many years. Do you know us?"

"That's true." Li Ergen said.

Commander Wang said in a low voice: "We were born as pawns, and we became generals only because of the lord Zhao Dushi. Zhao Dushi said that he can't be trusted for a while, but he still has some brothers. Whoever comes to power in the future, we will follow."

Li Ergen immediately nodded vigorously and said: "Yes, it is impossible to do it alone as a general. We have to get together and find a backer."

Commander Wang lowered his voice: "Yang Dushi said that when the world changes, it will be the time for us to flourish; don't look at what's going on now, the big winds and waves are yet to come. It's none of our business who is the emperor, but if the Queen Mother and Guo Shao's gang monopolize power, it will certainly not benefit us; those gangs have their own brothers, and they won't even share the benefits of a bowl of soup."

Li Ergen said: "If anyone raises their arms and shouts, we brothers still have a lot of people in their hands."

"Don't worry, you have to wait. Now you need someone to come forward to convince the crowd. I don't know who this person is, and then you have to have a chance. You can't do it recklessly. If you do it so recklessly, even Zhao Dushi dare not, just run away." Commander Wang reminded, "It's fine recently, just take the reward if you give it, and be careful."

Li Ergen sighed: "Women are so scared, but tell her to be the king... Brother Wang said why our lord, Zhao Dushi, ran away without saying a word. If he shouts, brothers won't fight for him?"

Commander Wang said: "We brothers are willing, but not all the generals of the Cavalry Army are brothers. Zhao Dushi missed it."

...The early morning in early August was also chilly, and many people didn't get up. There was an alley outside the yard, and there was not even a single person at dawn. Outside the alley is a street.

Guo Shao took a carriage and brought a group of civilian followers to the alley slowly, and stopped by the side of the road, all the lanterns of the carriages and horses were extinguished.

Guo Shao took out an envelope with the words: Li Ergen on it.

"If your husband didn't come back after going out in the morning, and a stranger came to the door with a letter saying that your husband has something important to leave home for a while, would you be suspicious?" Guo Shao whispered.

Jing Niang, who was sitting next to him, said: "I will definitely be suspicious... If I were a family member of that family, I would first send someone to the house of a friend I have been in contact with, ask about the situation, and then find my husband's Shangfeng."

After hearing this, Guo Shao was thoughtful: "What if there is a letter and token from your husband?"

"If the letter is well written, I will still be suspicious of the letter, but I will be afraid of being scolded if it makes too much noise, and I will be very cautious before disturbing the peak." Jing Niang said seriously.

Guo Shao pondered again: "One of them is not on duty occasionally, and there will be no movement in the barracks for a few days."

At this moment, Lu Chengyong walked to the side of the carriage and asked in a low voice: "The time is coming soon, has the lord ordered someone to set up an ambush?"

Guo Shao opened the curtain and warned: "The generals of the Iron Cavalry Army are all young and strong men. Take a good look at their appearance and dress, so don't catch them wrongly; if there are more than three people accompanying them, the action will be cancelled. Don't be in a hurry!"

"I understand the humble job." Lu Chengyong clasped his fists and said.

Guo Shao turned his head and said to Jingniang: "Lu Chengyong was an infantryman of the 'Xiaodi Army' in the past, and his martial arts are a bit sloppy. You ask Yang Biao to go with you. I feel more at ease with the two of you."

Jing Niang said: "The master is waiting for my news."

Guo Shao yawned, he got up too early, usually at this time, unless it was a day of great court, he would probably still be sleeping, but today he had already woken up for an hour. He closed his eyes and took a nap in the carriage.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he was in a daze, he heard a noise outside. He hurriedly opened the curtain of the car to take a look, and saw three big men were caught in the alley, tied up and blocked by cloth. The soldiers behind were still leading their horses and carrying some weapons and sundries. The big man who was tied up now had a gash on his face, as if he had just been scratched, and his face was stained with blood.

Jing Niang said: "I didn't want to draw the sword, but this guy is dishonest."

Guo Shao couldn't help giving a thumbs up and said, "Take the carriage and go."

After a while, Jingniang got into Guo Shao's carriage, and there was a creaking sound of wheels outside, and it started to jolt slightly. Guo Shao said to Jingniang: "Torture to force a confession, and ask them to confess the names of other people. In case he missed it, he took the list of the three generals of the Iron Cavalry Army, the commander (military envoy), the commander, and the deputy commander.

Tomorrow morning, think of another way, choose another one to capture, or extract a confession. If the list of designations is different, severed limbs and teeth can be used as torture... If not, they can also threaten their family members. "

Jing Niang said: "We are too ruthless..."

Guo Shaodao: "It's not ruthless, it's just a matter of winning or losing... If you lose, you have to pay the price. Zhao Kuangyin's party and the queen mother are fighting for power, and the power is related to the life and death of countless people. Since those people want to be prosperous and rich, and have the courage to participate, they should have the courage to bear everything. If they fail, they should be prepared to lose everything if they fail. How can there be any reason to gamble without even the capital, and be an empty-handed wolf?"

Jing Niang pondered: "They're going to die anyway, it's okay to make them suffer a bit."

Guo Shao smiled and said: "That's the way to think. What should be done in the first place, no matter how you think about it, you have to do it. Why don't you think about it and have to make it difficult for yourself?"

Jing Niang, who has always been indifferent, glanced at him, and seemed to be more and more interested in Guo Shao.

Guo Shaodao: "I have figured it out a long time ago. Since I dream of getting ahead, I should face such fierce competition... Here I will find out who Zhao Kuangyin's team is. After two days, I will ask Huang Binglian to play the case of Zhao San rape_killing his brother and sister-in-law, and publicize it to him in front of all civil and military officials; then post the case in various places in the city to build momentum."

"What's the use of that yellow robe?" Jing Niang asked.

Guo Shaodao: "The yellow robe and the living Zhao Pu will be able to convict Zhao Kuangyin. Don't move for now. If we are too aggressive, we may make others realize the danger and jump over the wall... Now we are just saying that Zhao San's morals are corrupt and commit all kinds of evil, and we don't talk about Zhao Kuangyin. Zhao San's case is like boiling water to a warm fire first; the final killer is to add a big fire to the bottom of the cauldron, which really boils the water!"

Jing Niang frowned and thought about it for a while, then said: "The last time the master mutinied, no one knew what you were going to do until the last moment. I think it's the same this time."

Guo Shao laughed and said: "I have done this kind of thing once, so I have experience, and it is easy to do it again... Eh, once you say that, I really feel that I am very skilled."