Chapter 2 Murder (I)

The rain stops and the clouds stop.

Under the scorching sun in late spring, the fields are lush.

More than a dozen teenagers rode their horses through the green fields, and everyone's face was filled with sunlight.

The birds foraging on both sides of the official road were frightened by the sound of horse hooves and kept singing in the air. The men and women who were bent to farm in the fields raised their heads alertly, with a full face of suspicion: "Whose prince and grandson dared to come to Cangzhou to show off? Are you not afraid of being seen by Jia Laohu, and swallowed them up with the people and horses, and even the bones and scum?"

The people riding on the horse did not feel the danger of galloping in broad daylight without guards. The Liao army, which came in ragingly at the beginning of the year, had retreated to the north of Hutuo Hebei. The terrain of Cangzhou was surprisingly flat again, and there were no mountains for green forest heroes to occupy. At the end of the official road at the foot, Cangzhou was about fifteen or six miles away. Once a battle occurred outside the city, the officers and soldiers in the city could reach the scene within half an hour... (Note 1)

The spring breeze is so proud that the horse's hooves are fast. It is most appropriate to use this poem to describe the mood of a group of young people.

A small half of the Liao army that launched a large-scale invasion in the south at the beginning of the year were dragged by these young men to Lijiazhai west of Dingzhou. More than 20,000 troops were lost in succession, and several generals of command and command were greatly affected. The entire Liao Kingdom's plan to move south was forced to slow down and the advancement was divided from the front line to rescue their right wing, so as not to cut the food route at the critical moment of the decisive battle between the two countries and the soldiers were hungry to fight.

What Liu Hanguo needs most at this moment is time. After a breath of relief, all the elite soldiers and generals rushed to the front line. With the close cooperation of the two famous generals Guo Wei and Fu Yanqing, they quickly stabilized the defense line and launched a decisive counterattack, forcing the Liao army to retreat step by step. In the end, they had to escape back to Youzhou in shame!

After this battle, the names of the young men resounded throughout Hebei. The most popular of them, such as Zheng Ziming, Han Chongyun, Zhao Kuangyin and Hu Yanzan, were already vaguely comparable to veterans such as Bai Wenke and Murong Yanchao. Although the latter has a high position and is famous for many years, the people of Hebei only know who took the initiative to stand up at the critical moment to block the horse hoof of the Grass Valley, but they can't remember who was the official in the Han Dynasty, and they can't figure out who is the rank and level!

Compared with the verbal praises of the young people, the rewards and promotions of the Han Dynasty's court seemed a bit too shabby. Despite the amazing achievements of defeating the enemy in the first battle, despite the joint recommendations of veterans such as Guo Wei, Li Hongyi, Chang Si and Fu Yanqing, the Emperor of the Han Dynasty, Liu Chengyou, only gave the number one meritorious official Zheng Ziming, the governor of Cangzhou and the defensive envoy. As for the practice of setting up a military governor and not a defensive envoy on the border prefectures and counties, and the system in which the promotion of military generals must be rewarded with their military achievements, they will not be mentioned.

Since the number one hero was promoted to the first level, he was promoted from the inspector under the fifth rank to the fourth rank defense envoy. Han Chongyun, Zhao Kuangyin and Hu Yanzan, the benefits obtained by the court were even more useless. For the sake of their fathers, Liu Chengyou each awarded a false position as General Xuanwei from the fourth rank, and then gave him some gold and silver. Anyway, the money didn't have to be released from the inner warehouse, and the little emperor Liu Chengyou would not feel sorry for himself.

"Grandma, with this little mind, it's not as good as the vegetable dealers in Taiyuan City. If the former emperor had any knowledge in the spring, he would definitely be so angry that he would have made a backflip!" Even Han Chongyun was gentle in nature and could not help but curse after sending away the imperial envoy who came to pass the imperial edict.

"It's already good. At least we won't punish us for leading troops across the border without authorization!" Hu Yanzan had no good feelings for the emperor of the dynasty. He curled his lips and sneered and agreed.

When he first accepted the invitation with his father, he had a lot of expectations for the Liu Han court and his future. But as time went by, he gradually came to a conclusion that the court had only given a righteous name, not at all cleaner than the Green Forest. At least, after the Green Forest Road, he had to follow a clear set of rules. The court, haha, did not take the rules seriously from the emperor.

"Forget it, we didn't mean to get promoted and make money!" Zhao Kuangyin was calmer than everyone. Seeing that everyone was indignant, he smiled and said to relieve himself. "Although Ziming's defense envoy is a little lower, it saves a lot of trouble. If he really became the governor of the Henghai Army, he would also be in charge of Jingzhou, Dezhou and Dizhou in name. The other two states are fine, then Dizhou is Fu Laolang's on-the-trade meal. Ziming was guarding against the Liao people in front and guarding against him later. In less than half a year, he would have to vomit blood after he was exhausted!"

"What's wrong with Fu Laolang? I don't believe it. Seeing Li Shouzhen, Zhao Siwan and others giving their heads one by one, he still has the courage to fight with the same family!" Yang Guangyi likes to quarrel with others the most. He heard that Zhao Kuangyin had suffered a great loss and comforted himself, and couldn't help but sneer and retort.

"Zi Ming has a special identity. If Fu Laolang attacked him from behind, the emperor would probably only be happy to see him accomplished!" Zhao Kuangyin knew about the friendship between Han Chongyun, Yang Guangyi and others and Zheng Ziming, so he did not hide it and dragged his true thoughts out.

In his opinion, the main reason why the court was arrogant to everyone's meritorious ministers was probably because Zheng Ziming's background was too subtle. Although Zheng Ziming himself had completely given up the right to inherit the throne by changing his surname. Although Ziming's father Shi Chonggui once sent back an abdication edict at any cost, affirming the "justice" of Liu Zhiyuan and his descendants as emperors, no one who became an emperor would probably not give Zheng Ziming the opportunity to grow into a prince. No matter whether his mind is broad or narrow, his surname is Liu or Wang!

This was originally a big truth, but it turned into another meaning in the ears of Yang Guangyi and Han Chongyun. Suddenly, Yang and Han turned cold and sneered and curled their lips one after another: "Hehe, hehe, if you say so, Ziming has dragged you down! Who was shouting just now, isn't it for promotion and wealth?"

"I'm really sorry for delaying General Zhao's future. Let's do this, my father and Guo Yunming have some personal relationships. It's better for him to write a letter to defend General Zhao. Although it's not too late to make up for the loss, it's not necessarily too late. At least next time the emperor calculates his military achievements, he won't count you and me together!"
Chapter completed!