A long-distance carriage slowly entered Zhaozhou City.
With the end of the war, the war-torn Zhaozhou City had regained some of its vitality.
At this moment, Zhaozhou City was still dilapidated and withered.
Less than one-tenth of the formerly bustling streets had been restored to business, and a large number of refugees had not yet returned to the north. As the temperature gradually warmed, the icicles under the eaves dripped with melted ice water, and the snow on the streets had been trampled and mixed with the mud, appearing especially dirty.
But a hint of serenity and joy could be seen on the faces of the people. They no longer hurried on with their heads lowered, no longer were their eyes filled with confusion and fear, no longer were their brows tightly furrowed. Even if their clothes were ragged, if they were fellow countrymen meeting on the streets, they would still smile and excitedly embrace each other.
Humans were not afraid of suffering, but what they feared most was a lack of hope. As long as they were given hope, they would have the courage and confidence to live on.
Yang Fan, who was sitting in the car, was sincerely happy to see this scene. He was one of the people who had created hope for these people. Perhaps he had played almost no role on the battlefield and had not killed many enemies, but he had used his wisdom to play a role that even an army of one hundred thousand could not match.
Seeing this scene, the frustration and humiliation that the 'Eagle's Beak' felt when he had personally witnessed the decisive battle between the Khitans and the Turks on the territory of Wuzhou had greatly lessened. His empire had fallen into serious internal strife due to the struggle for the throne and could not use all its strength to protect its people for the time being.
At this time, even if he had to use some tricks and make some concessions, as long as the people who paid taxes and provided for this vast empire could have a path of survival and hope, he was willing to sacrifice his dignity as a man. The face of an emperor, a general, or a minister, was nothing compared to the belly of the people!
Also sitting in the carriage were A 'Nu and Gu Zhuting. A' Nu did not avoid suspicion and sat close to Yang Fan, leaning on his shoulder as they looked out the window. This was her man, her support. If she did not sit next to him, who else could she sit next to?
Gu Zhuting, on the other hand, was sitting far away, so far that it was a little deliberate. Fortunately, Ah Nu's mind was completely focused on Yang Fan, so she didn't notice her master's strange behavior.
The Sage said, "If you have enough food and clothing, you will know honor and disgrace." It was true. Under the harsh living conditions on the grassland, Gu Zhuting could not treat herself as a woman. If she did not sleep together, she would be frozen into a popsicle. If she did not have her hair and face dirty, she could only use up the precious snow water …
Thus, everything she did there was natural and expected. However, when she returned to the civilized world and recalled everything, she felt shy and embarrassed. Fortunately, Yang Fan did not do anything special, or she would be even more ashamed.
A 'Nu and Gu Zhuting were women. Although the war was not completely over, they could leave at any time if they wanted to. Yang Fan, on the other hand, was a little more troublesome. He was a soldier, but the war in the north had come to an end. The Great Zhou Army was besieging the Khitans who had escaped, so there was no big battle to fight. Whether Yang Fan could leave or not depended on the words of the high-ranking generals.
Whether it was Li Duozuo or Lou Shide, they were all very familiar with Yang Fan and had a good relationship with him. So, Yang Fan left.
He went deep into the tiger's den and successfully completed the mission of borrowing soldiers, ending the Khitan rebellion before the arrival of spring, thus preventing the chaotic war situation from destroying the spring ploughing in Hebei. Otherwise, the lives of the people in Hebei would be worse in the coming year. Yang Fan could be said to have made a great contribution.
If he stayed in Hebei at this time, it would undoubtedly be more advantageous for him after the war, but this was no longer important to him. For him now, too high a position was actually not conducive to his development, so at this moment, Yang Fan had a bit of a carefree feeling of "brushing his clothes and leaving after the matter is done, hiding his achievements and fame".
"We've arrived at the inn. Let's rest for a while and continue our journey tomorrow!"
When the carriage stopped, Yang Fan looked back at A 'Nu and Gu Zhuting with a smile. A 'Nu nodded sweetly. After experiencing the pain of being separated by life and death, as long as her man could return safely, as long as she could snuggle up to him like this, and smell his scent, she would be satisfied.
Gu Zhuting dodged Yang Fan's gaze a little. When she walked out of the carriage, her slender feet in deerskin boots stomped on the ground a few times. Because of the long journey, there was no snow on her boots. She just wanted to use this small action to stomp away the annoyance in her heart, because she found that she was a little afraid of this little man.
With a smile, Yang Fan said to the innkeeper, "Innkeeper, two superior rooms!"
Around the carriage, there were a few people dressed like merchants who also dismounted and walked into the inn. Yang Fan knew that they were the people sent by the 'Succession Hall' to protect his safety. When A 'Nu stayed in the' Thousand Gold Smelter ', the sovereign's bodyguards came to find him.
However, Yang Fan was still an official, and there were still many scouts from the imperial court, the Turks, and even the surrounding tribes in Hebei. In order to avoid being noticed, Yang Fan could only ask them to be his bodyguards in secret, and did not allow them to openly follow him.
When the innkeeper saw that the guest had arrived, he hurriedly and attentively received him. He called the waiter over and welcomed the guest in.
After being repeatedly looted, the so-called superior rooms here were only slightly cleaner and more spacious, and nothing else. Yang Fan knew that Zhaozhou City had been severely damaged during the war, and it was impossible for there to be any high-class restaurants at this moment. He could only settle his dinner in this inn. Therefore, after washing up and changing his clothes, he went to the guest hall.
After a while, A 'Nu and Gu Zhuting also finished washing up and changing their clothes, and came to his table. Yang Fan nodded to them and asked them to order a few dishes from the menu in front of the counter, while he continued to listen to the discussion of the people at the table next to him.
At the table next to them, a middle-aged merchant said to them in a serious tone, "I advise you, it's best to wait for things to settle down before going back. It's better not to go north right now."
Those people were well-dressed, and it seemed that they were rich people from the north who had fled to the south during the war. Now that the war was over, they were on their way back to the north, and they happened to meet their fellow countrymen from the north.
One of them, who looked like a rich gentleman, asked anxiously, "Why can't we go back now? We still have to wait for things to settle down. Could it be that the Khitans are still running rampant? "
The middle-aged merchant waved his hand and said with a bitter smile, "The Khitans are no longer a threat, but … have you heard that the Lord of Hanoi, Wu Yizong, has arrived in Youzhou?"
A middle-aged man spat fiercely and said, "That pig-riding general, I spit on him! When the Khitans were arrogant, he ran away as soon as he heard the slightest news, running away faster than a damn rabbit. When the Khitans lost the war, he couldn't wait to run north, afraid that he wouldn't be able to seize the credit in time! "
Another person was somewhat confused and said, "So what if he arrived in Youzhou? He's a man of our imperial court, not a Khitan. "
The middle-aged merchant sighed and said, "He's not a Khitan, but he's even more ruthless than them! Have you heard of the Khitan General He Ahxiao? Among the Khitans, he's the most bloodthirsty. Now, the elders in the north rank Wu Yizong and He Ahxiao together as the two He's, saying, 'Only these two He's have killed the most people!' "
The aristocrats looked at each other in dismay and said in bewilderment, "The Khitans have harmed us quite a bit, so what's wrong with him killing them a bit more ruthlessly?"
The middle-aged merchant spat fiercely and said, "Who do you think he killed? How could there be so many Khitans for him to kill? Those who should escape have escaped, those who should die have died, or those who should have surrendered to the other generals. Wu Yizong rushed over, but it's a pity that he hid too far away. By the time he arrived, there were already no Khitans for him to capture. Without heads, how can he report the credit? "
The middle-aged merchant coldly glared at his obstinate fellow countrymen and said fiercely, "Then he'll just point fingers at the good for stealing! When Wu Yizong arrived in Youzhou, he immediately massacred the commoners of the cities that had been occupied by the Khitans for a long time, saying that they were collaborating with bandits and financed bandits. He killed an entire family, regardless of gender or age. "
The more the middle-aged merchant spoke, the angrier he became. He said, "All the prefectures have been plundered by the Khitans. I originally thought that now that the Khitans have been defeated, we could live in peace. Who knew … who knew that the princes of the imperial court are even more ruthless than the Khitans. Most of the Khitans seize wealth, at least they don't want people's lives, but this Wu Yizong …"
At this point, the middle-aged merchant slammed the table heavily, his face full of resentment. The northern aristocrats looked at each other in dismay and were all speechless. Yang Fan, who was listening at the side, couldn't help but secretly clench his fists. The rebels had been eliminated, but the one who had done the most evil was actually the one who pacified the rebels, the prince of the Wuzhou dynasty!
… …
Because Wu Yizong was far away from the battlefield, he arrived in Youzhou too late. By the time he arrived, only a small portion of the Khitan rebel army had fled back to Yingzhou or into the mountains and forests. The majority had either defected to the Turks or surrendered to the imperial court. Wu Yizong hadn't caught many bandits, so he could only target the commoners who were celebrating their escape from the bandits. He even killed children of three or five years old, using their heads as compensation. Wu Yizong's actions against the commoners immediately shocked all the prefectures. The commoners fled upon hearing the news. Li Duozuo, Lou Shide, Shazha Zhongyi, and the other generals were shocked and personally went to Youzhou to dissuade him. Even Wu Youyi, who had been holed up in Danzhou and refused to go to battle, couldn't bear to watch any longer.
It was true that he was afraid of battle, but he wasn't as brainless as Wu Yizong. The Wu family's performance on the Hebei battlefield had already become the laughingstock of the world. Were they afraid of being condemned by the masses if they did something so perverse? Moreover, the people of the north were tough and fierce. If they were provoked, it would be another disaster.
Thus, Wu Youyi immediately went to see Wu Yizong and sternly reprimanded him as his cousin. All the generals objected, and even his cousin flew into a rage. Wu Yizong also felt that his actions had offended the masses and didn't dare to kill the innocent. However, the heads he counted were far from enough to show off his military achievements.
Thus, after Wu Yizong wrote a memorial, recommending the imperial court to 'execute the entire clan' of the commoners of Hebei who had joined the bandits and quickly sent it to the capital, he did another stupid thing: he set his sights on the Xi clan.
Although the Xi clan had stabbed the Khitans in the back at the critical moment and expressed its position to the Great Zhou, it had still once cooperated with the Khitans. Wu Yizong led the army north and approached the Xi clan's territory, putting on an aggressive posture. He wanted to 'pacify' Hebei and 'quell' the Xi clan's rebellion to achieve an unparalleled merit!
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