Chapter 895: The Magnificent Power of Han (Twenty)

The cold wind was howling, snowflakes were dancing in the air, and the whole world was ruled by white. The remains of a series of tragic wars that took place here a few days ago were completely covered by snow, and no trace could be seen. There was a small post station on the side of the road, with ten soldiers of the Eastern Expedition Army stationed inside, and nearly twenty war horses were raised. This was a post station for the Eastern Expedition Army to deliver letters.

Wang Pei was wrapped in a thick cloak and sat in the post station. He was accompanied by a civil servant under Ye Zhen of Tianhe County. This time, Wang Pei was ordered by Tian Fucheng to go to Jishi City to meet Gao Yuan.

Tian Fucheng had led his troops back to Qi because he was sure that his father Tian Dan would be defeated, and he was afraid that he would not even be able to save his life. , then he had an idea, but he never thought that when tens of thousands of troops returned to Qi, the boss Tian Yuancheng had already been prepared, mobilized the whole country, denounced him as a traitor, and blamed him for the failure of the war, which caused his reputation in the country to plummet, and he almost became a traitor that everyone wanted to kill. Tian Fucheng was shocked and angry. Fortunately, whether it was Wang Pei or Huo Siwei, they knew that after boarding his ship, unless they followed to win the final victory, they would definitely not have a good ending. With the help of these two experienced generals and relying on the nearly 70,000 troops in his hands, Tian Fucheng successively captured Jimo and Gaotang, and finally had his own territory.

But even so, precious time was wasted day by day. As time went by, after taking over these two territories, the previous lightning-fast strikes were no longer effective. The civil war in Qi State gradually fell into a stalemate. The eldest son Tian Yuancheng stabilized the two capitals of Linzi and Pinglu, while the other capital, Ju, was now in danger due to the invasion of the Chu people. Tian Yuancheng tried his best and only controlled about half of the territory.

Qi State was basically divided into two.

The war fell into a stalemate, but Tian Fucheng was not afraid. His men were all elite soldiers, far from being comparable to the army that Tian Yuancheng had put together temporarily. If the two sides fought with real swords and guns, he could completely defeat the opponent in a dignified manner. The problem was that Tian Yuancheng was also very clear about this problem and refused to fight. Tian Fucheng confronted him head-on. While defending the city and fighting against Tian Fucheng, a small group of elite troops were sent out to attack, harass, and publicize Tian Fucheng's treasonous behavior, causing rebellions in the area ruled by Tian Fucheng.

Compared with these, Tian Dan was not only still alive, but also treated him with favor by the Eastern Expedition Army, which made Tian Fucheng even more frightened. If the Eastern Expedition Army reached some agreement with Tian Dan and released Tian Dan, Tian Fucheng was sure of his defeat, which might be in an instant. Outsiders may not understand Tian Dan's huge influence in Qi, but as a son, he knew it clearly.

The most hateful thing is that those who once opposed Tian Dan and Tian Dan did not kill them due to various considerations, in this chaos Tian Yuancheng took the opportunity to kill him.

The war was at a stalemate, and Tian Fucheng sent Wang Pei to Jishi City to meet Gao Yuan. He had only one purpose, that is, not to let Tian Dan go back, even if he had to pay a price for it. Of course, it would be best if the Zhengdong Army killed Tian Dan.

Wang Pei held the pottery cup in his hand, hot water vapor came out of the cup, and his palm was also warm. Staring at the burning firewood in front of him, Wang Pei didn't have much hope for this mission.

This is sending himself to the other party to blackmail! Wang Pei sighed in his heart. The Zhengdong Army would never let Tian Dan go back. This was the consensus of Wang Pei and Huo Siwei. It was Gao Yuan who caused the civil strife in Qi. The ending he wanted to see the most, but Tian Fucheng was terrified because the Eastern Expedition Army suddenly released Tian Jingwen and 5,000 soldiers. These 5,000 people did not return empty-handed, but were fully armed and sent back to Qi by the Eastern Expedition Army. The return of this army to Qi made Tian Yuancheng's momentum soar. That's why Wang Pei made this trip.

The Eastern Expedition Army would never release Tian Dan, but would definitely take advantage of this opportunity to blackmail both parties. Wang Pei thought helplessly that this trip would depend on how big the Eastern Expedition Army's appetite was.

"Sir, add some hot water!" The soldier in the posthouse lifted the iron kettle for boiling water from the fire and said to Wang Pei.

"Thank you!" Wang Pei raised his head and looked at this blind man. , the lame soldier put the pottery cup in his hand on the ground. It has been heard that the soldiers of the Eastern Expedition Army are very generous in their pensions. Now it seems that it is not a lie. If it were in Qi State, such a wounded soldier would have been sent home long ago, but now, this person has obviously been well settled.

"This lord came from Tianhe, right? I heard that Jicheng is prosperous. I wonder if it is true? I have never been to Jicheng in my life!" The old soldier put the iron kettle back to the fire, sat down cross-legged, looked at Wang Pei and asked with a smile.

"Jicheng has experienced war and suffered a lot, but it is Yandu after all, so it is natural for it to be prosperous." Wang Pei replied with a smile.

"That's good, that's good!" The old soldier laughed. Laughing, "Our governor is going to Jicheng. If the battle there turns into a mess, the governor will definitely be unhappy."

"Governor Gao is the general of the Eastern Expedition and a subordinate of the King of Yan. He won't go to Jicheng, right?" Wang Pei asked tentatively. "Will the Eastern Expedition Army not welcome back the King of Yan?"

The old soldier was a little annoyed when he heard it, and looked at Wang Pei with squinted eyes, "Where is this gentleman from? Isn't he from our Eastern Expedition Army?"

Wang Pei coughed a few times, "I am indeed not from the Eastern Expedition Army. This time I am going to Jishi City on official business." He squinted at the Eastern Expedition Army civil servant sitting on the other side, but saw that the man lowered his eyelids slightly, his eyes looking at his nose, his nose looking at his heart, and he seemed not to hear them talking here.

"No wonder, if you are also a member of the Eastern Army, I will beat you to death." The old soldier said angrily. "What kind of thing is Ji Ling? Our commander-in-chief defeated the Xiongnu and conquered the Eastern Hu, and made such great contributions. He But he wanted to kill our governor. The most unforgivable thing is that he could actually lose the capital to the Qi people. I cursed his grandma, and ran away in the end, not even giving up his wife. Such a king is so shameful. What's the use of coming here after showing off our dignity! Now we are only thinking about Governor Gao going to Jicheng, it would be best to become the king."

Wang Pei coughed again. He didn't want to discuss this issue with the veteran in front of him. Looking at his angry look, he changed the subject, "Brother, you are seriously injured, why don't you retire and come back?" You support your family, but you are still working as an errand?"

The veteran touched the injured eye and said, "I have no home, I am alone, and my leg is injured. I can't do farm work when I go home. The superiors take care of me and let me be a soldier here and guard this inn. I only have one tael of silver every month. After a year and a half, if I save a little money, I can ask for a wife."

"I wonder where my brother was injured?"

The old soldier laughed, "Where else can I be? It's right here at the Wushang Pass. I'm a member of the newly formed First Army. I'm blocking Tian Dan's reinforcements here. They beat me for half a month. I lost one eye and one head." Only one leg, but it doesn’t matter, we still completed the mission. If we hadn’t been ordered to retreat by the superiors, these soft-legged crabs from the Qi army would never have crossed the Weishan Pass.”

Wang Pei fell silent for a moment. The injury of the veteran in front of him turned out to be from fighting the Qi people. If he knew that he was the general of Qi, he would probably have a bowl of boiling water poured over him, right? He turned around and looked again I glanced at the official and saw that the corners of his mouth were slightly raised, but he seemed to be snickering. I couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed.

Suddenly there was the rumble of horse hooves outside, and Wang Pei's heart skipped a beat. He was the one who led the old soldiers. When he heard the sound of horse hooves hitting the ground, he knew clearly that it was the sound of a large group of cavalry approaching. He couldn't help but turn to the inquirer. He cast his eyes on the soldier.

"Sir, don't panic!" The veteran stood up calmly, holding on to his crutches, "This is our cavalry. We were notified before that cavalry was passing by, but we didn't want to come so quickly."

The veteran limped to the door, and Wang Pei also stood up. As the veteran walked out of the military station, a moment later, in the wind and snow, groups of cavalry quickly approached from a distance. After passing the military station, they did not stop. Instead, he stepped forward directly. The veteran waved his hands happily to the endless stream of cavalry passing by.

Looking at these cavalry, Wang Pei was shocked. Although these cavalry were wearing the uniforms of the Eastern Conquest Army, they were clearly barbarians. Is this the Huns cavalry?

Just as he was wondering, a big flag suddenly appeared in front of him.

"Donghu Independent Cavalry Division!" He was stunned for a moment and stared at the big flag. The veteran beside him also lowered his hand. Apparently, this veteran couldn't tell the difference between the Hun cavalry and the Donghu cavalry. Just now After the long war with Donghu ended, ordinary people were still a little unaccustomed to the fact that Donghu cavalry had become their friendly forces.

Under the banner, an officer rode to the post station, jumped off his horse, handed a document to the soldier, and said loudly: "The Donghu Independent Cavalry Division arrived at Xiaoshanguan one day early, please sign and be detained!"

The veteran turned around and shouted loudly, and a young soldier rushed out with a cry, holding a pen in his hand.

"Sign and deposit!" The veteran waved his hand, and the soldier immediately picked up his pen and signed a name on the document in the officer's hand, in duplicate. The officer handed one to the veteran's head and kept the other. He saluted the veteran's head, turned around, mounted his horse, and galloped away.

The veteran looked at Wang Pei and said with a smile: "I am illiterate, but now all the young people in Zhengdong Mansion are literate! Thanks to the governor, I will get married and have a son in the future, and I will be able to study." Our school in Zhengdong Mansion does not charge money."

Wang Pei didn't hear what the veteran said. He just watched the cavalry galloping past in front of him. Counting the time, there were probably tens of thousands of these cavalry.

Why did the Eastern Expeditionary Army suddenly mobilize a large number of cavalry to cross the Yaoshan Pass? A big question mark suddenly appeared in my heart, and I felt a sudden shock. Don't they want to attack Qi State? If the Eastern Expeditionary Army suddenly attacks Qi State at this time, The territory controlled by the Second Young Master will bear the brunt of the attack.

"Master Lu, I wonder what business these cavalry are doing?" He turned to look at the official accompanying him.

"General Wang is joking. I am just a humble official under Commander Ye. How can I be involved in such important military and national affairs?" the official said with a smile.

Wang Pei was startled and said, "Master Lu, we have rested here for an hour. It's time to set off. I want to get to Jishi City as early as possible."

"No problem!" The official was very happy. "The inns here have war horses. We can just change the horses here. The horses we have left here will be given to the inn. They will take good care of them when we come back. Change it back again." (To be continued)