The place where I met Shao Yi was in a wilderness west of Nangong City.

Hundreds of Zhuhu cavalry were arriving one after another and were practicing.

These people are all put together by various departments.

I am fifty, you are one hundred, and he is two hundred. We have collected more than two thousand, and now we have five hundred, and we have begun to organize and train.

Since the Northern Expedition, the number of cavalry first declined rapidly, and then increased sharply.

He plans to recruit more than two thousand people into the Yi Cong Army. In this way, the total strength of the army will exceed seven thousand, greatly increasing its strength.

However, the number of people has increased, but the combat effectiveness has declined, and the morale of the military is relatively chaotic, and it still needs time to rectify.

When Shao Yi arrived, he saw these cavalry practicing the tactics of separate attacks and combined attacks.

Amidst the rumble of horse hoofbeats, Shao Yi bowed and saluted.

"How are you doing, Sizu?" Shao Xun took Shao Yi's hand, asked him to sit down, and asked with a smile.

Seeing the familiar appearance of Duke Chen, Shao Yi knew what he was doing and immediately replied: "After my father returned home, he joined forces with the Marquis of Jibei to force Cao Yi to withdraw his troops."

"What did Cao Yi do when he went back?"

"Probably to straighten things out and consolidate the fundamentals."

"Cao Yi does have some discernment." Shao Xun said with unclear meaning.

"Cao Yi was originally a remnant of the Celestial Master Dao. He was rampant in Qingzhou and relied on the Celestial Master Daoists. In recent years, he was very polite to the scholars and won over many people, and his power became increasingly stable."

"Didn't he force some of the scholars away?" Shao Xun asked.

"If you can't be used by him and are always against him, Cao Yi will also be cruel."

Give both grace and power!

Shao Xun couldn't help but glance at Cao Yi.

Although this person has no great ambitions and only wants to separate Qingzhou and become a local overlord, he still has some skills.

Moreover, it is not that he has no basic base in the local area. "The remnant of the Heavenly Master Dao" is an annotation of his identity.

It's actually quite interesting.

Cao Yi provided another possibility for Shao Xun to rise, that is, religion.

Religion can weaken the disadvantages of birth and family status, making it easier for the lower class to rise. There are many scholars who believe in Tianshi Tao these days, mainly in the eastern Yanzhou, Qingzhou, Xuzhou, and Jizhou areas, among which Qingzhou is the most developed Tianshi Tao. In good places, through religious beliefs, some scholars can be attracted to work for them.

To put it simply, Tianshi Dao has reshaped a social evaluation system, reducing the proportion of family status and making it more friendly to low-level careerists.

"Once the situation in Hebei is stabilized, sooner or later we will take action against Cao Yi." Shao Xun glanced at Wang Yan and said.

Wang Yan gently stroked his beard and said: "Taibai, you can't expect Cao Yi to surrender with just a few words. You still have to use swords and soldiers."

At first, the imperial court was unwilling to recruit Cao Yi to surrender, thinking that if anyone who rebelled could be recruited, wouldn't it encourage more people to rebel? In the past two years, they gradually couldn't stand it anymore and began to contact Cao Yi, but Cao Yi refused to surrender.

The Xiongnu gave everything that the Jin court could give, and the conditions were more relaxed. He was a rebel. From a personal emotional point of view, he must have hatred for the Jin court. When the conditions of the two parties were similar, why should they surrender? ?

Now that the war in Hebei is raging, Cao Yi can't sit still.

But no matter what, his first priority is to maintain his independent status and become the local overlord of Qingzhou.

All his actions serve this ultimate demand.

For this reason, it is not that he cannot consider the Jin court's recruitment now, but the specific side to surrender can be said.

If Shao Xun expected Cao Yi to submit to Qingzhou and install officials, station troops and ask for too much money and food, it would definitely not work.

Therefore, we still have to fight against this kind of people. Don’t expect them to be boiled frogs in warm water and slowly be absorbed into them.

"Now is not the time to touch Cao Yi." Shao Xun said: "I heard that you are bringing some Bohai heroes?"

"Yes. They are all descendants of the Bohai Gao family, and they once raised an army together to fight against the Huns."

"You can call him quickly." Shao Xun said.

Shao Yi immediately asked his entourage to summon the children of the Gao family to see him.

Taking advantage of this gap, he briefly introduced the situation of the Gao family in Bohai.

When Wang Jun relied on the Yi Jianwei to conquer Hebei, his wife's uncle Cui Ao used his power to obtain the positions of governor of Pingzhou and captain of Dongyi.

The Cui family of Qinghe was very popular in Hebei, so they recruited a group of Hebei scholars and headed to Pingzhou with force.

Among them, Bohai Gaozhan and his uncle Gao Yin first led thousands of tribesmen to rely on Wang Jun to escape the chaos. Later, they found that Wang Jun was not decent, so they attached themselves to Cui Ao of the Cui family in Qinghe and moved to Liaodong.

It's not that Cui Ao has any extraordinary abilities. In fact, he is indeed better than Wang Jun, but his ability is average.

The most important thing is that Cui Ao is the great-grandson of Cui Yan, the leader of the scholars in Jizhou, and his descendants have been the crown clan of Jizhou for generations. The reputation of the Cui family in Jizhou is just like the reputation of the Wang family in Qingxu, which is naturally attractive.

Han Heng of the Han family in Anping also defected to Cui Ao of Liaodong for the same reason.

In addition to these two families, the gentry of all sizes in Jizhou rushed to western Liaoning with their families, and there were too many from eastern Liaoning. They also used their reputation and connections to recruit refugees from western Liaoning for Cui Ao - Hebei was in constant war, and many people fled to western Liaoning.

, Liaodong, because it is relatively peaceful there.

Things like fame and family status can really be used as food in today's social atmosphere and values.

How could Cui Ao be so virtuous? But as soon as the refugees who took refuge in western Liaoning heard about the reputation of the Cui family in Qinghe, they came to seek refuge one after another.

The noble families in Jizhou, large and small, were so powerful that as soon as they were conquered, they would rush over to serve.

People like Gao Zhan even brought thousands of bankers from Bohai to defect.

Of course, there are also those who don’t like Cui Ao.

For example, Cui Ao once invited Huangfu Ji to be the chief official, but he refused and joined Murong Xin together with his brother Huangfu Zhen and others.

For scholars like Huangfuji who migrated from Kansai, they could view Cui Ao objectively.

In the eyes of the wealthy Huangfu family of Anding, although the Cui family of Qinghe was famous, it was not enough to cover their eyes, and they did not have many relatives and friends. It would be hard to go away, so it would be better to join Murong Xianbei.

Shao Xun was a little speechless after hearing Shao Yi talk about these old events in Liaodong.

If he came from a high-ranking family such as the Cui family of Qinghe, the Wang family of Langya, or the Pei family of Hedong, even if he was just a child of a remote branch with a relatively poor family, it would be much easier.

Relying on the family's reputation, the Bohai rich man Gao immediately brought thousands of tribes to join him.

With such capital, why should I lick a rich woman? Don’t I want to be self-respecting?

I have made up my mind that I will no longer lick women and let women lick me.

In my reverie, people have already arrived.

"Bohai Gaojiang pays homage to Mr. Chen." The man, about thirty years old, bowed and bowed.

"Get up, sit down and talk." Shao Xun raised his hand and said.

Gao Jiang stood up and stood upright, neither humble nor arrogant.

Shao Xun introduced the staff around him.

When she heard Wang Yan's name, Gao Jiang looked excited, bowed her head to the end, and said: "Your Majesty is a famous person in the world. It is truly a blessing to see his true face."

Shao Xun was speechless again.

Sure enough, distance brings beauty. When he saw Wang Yifu every day, he felt that he was an old man who talked nonsense. But in the eyes of outsiders, Wang Yan was really famous, and it seemed that he had broken the circle?

Wang Laodeng was no longer just a leader of Qingxu scholars, he was very popular throughout the north, had friends all over the world, and his fame spread to every corner.

It seems that I need to respect Lao Deng a little more from now on.

Later, Zhang Bin was introduced.

Gao Jiang also looked at it a few more times and said, "I've admired you for a long time."

Zhang Bin cupped his hands and said nothing more.

His family background is better than that of the Bohai Gao family and the Feng family.

Family status is determined by the county's Zhongzheng three-year review.

In some families, the previous generation still had people serving as officials, but this generation has disappeared.

In some families, someone in this generation is an official, but the next generation sees no hope.

This kind of family is struggling between the poor and the wealthy, and their class will slip down if they are not careful.

The Zhang family in Zhongqiu has been an official for two consecutive generations, and was rated as an eighth-grade family by Zhaojun Zhongzheng. It belongs to a poor family, but is still better than the Gao family and Feng family in Bohai.

But he was famous in Hebei mainly because of Shi Le. Who doesn't know that Zhang Bin and Zhang Mengsun were Da Hu's dog-headed military advisors?

After the introduction, Shao Xun asked directly: "You come to see me, you must have some advice for the overall situation of Hebei?"

Gao Jiang took a peek at Shao Yi and saw that he nodded slightly, then said: "I am willing to serve the Ming Dynasty in front of the horse and behind the horse, and shine on the lintel."

"Why did you withdraw your troops last time?"

"Being defeated by the Xiongnu, it was really a rout." Gao Jiang said sheepishly.

"Possibly regroup?"

Gao Jiang hesitated for a moment, then saw Shao Yi reminding him, gritted his teeth and said: "I am willing to die for Duke Ming."

In fact, it was not that he could not see the situation clearly, but that most of the Gao family's wealth had been emptied by Gao Yin and Gao Zhan's uncle and nephew.
To be continued...