In autumn, Hsu Fengnian's trip to the north took about twenty days. Most of the time, he strolled leisurely around Jinyuan, Qinghe, Zhongzhong, and Huaiyang. During this period, Yan Wenluan, Chen Yunchui, and a few other veteran generals with heavy military duties gradually left. Then, Han Laoshan, Huangfu Qian, and the other provincial generals and deputy generals left for the south. Then, Wei Shaqing, Xin Yinma, and the other captains who had real power in the territory left. Finally, it was the turn of the second-line border army generals and captains who were not stationed here. Huang Laifu, the Lieutenant of Huaiyang, wanted to give up his official residence, but the Governor General, who was always fond of extravagance, did not agree. Instead, he casually bought a residence from a big family in the pass. It was said that after receiving the 3,000 taels of silver, the head of the family could not sleep well for several days and repeatedly wanted to return the money to the Governor General where Lu Qiuer was in charge. Unfortunately, the Governor General ignored him. Later, the head of the family was so restless that he could not eat or sleep well. He had to ask an expert for advice and added another 2,000 taels of silver, which he donated to the Huaiyang Pass as the army's salary. This family, who had been rich from the border trade in the early years, finally felt a little relieved. However, they still secretly moved to a Wubao residence dozens of miles south of the Huaiyang Pass. Chu Lushan's fierce reputation was evident.
In addition to Chu Lushan and Huang Laifu, the two landlords of Huaiyang Pass, there were also a group of young captains from the border and the territory. Wang Chou, the speaker of Anliang Army Town, Cao Xiaojiao, the Honglu General, who was famous for being a troublemaker in the northern defense line of Youzhou Province, Hong Xinjia, the real person in charge of many Wu Forts in Youzhou Province, Zhu Boyu, the Fengqiu Commandant of Lingzhou Province, and Ren Chunyun, the North Country Captain, who came from a poor family. Both of them performed outstandingly in the battle of Fuding in Lingzhou Province. Huang Xiaokuai, the Pearl Commandant of the vanguard, was promoted to the deputy general of Lingzhou Province and assisted Han Laoshan together with Wang Zhi. However, Huang Xiaokuai did not follow the order to go to the north this time. Instead, he was replaced by Jiao Wuyi. Compared to these three people, Ma Jinchai, the Frozen Field Commandant of Zhe Gui Prefecture, was really unlucky. She could not even keep her official title, let alone being promoted.
After arriving at the northern defense line, Hsu Fengnian rarely spoke, except for listening to the military intelligence and customs affairs from the generals and generals. He didn't even ask many questions. Occasionally, he asked some trivial questions about the border defense. He didn't say anything heroic, nor did he deliberately show off his knowledge of the art of war in front of the legendary warriors and young warriors. In fact, many people sincerely wanted to hear about the feats of the King of Beiliang in Jianghu. After all, he was the "new champion" of Jianghu who could even defeat Wang Xianzhi. No matter how arrogant Hsu Fengnian was, even the elders like Yan Wenluan and Gu Da Zu were willing to listen to him. However, the young king disappointed everyone. He didn't mention a single word about his travels in Jianghu and the battles of life and death. After Hsu Fengnian ascended to the top of Jianghu, in addition to the hidden ambush at Iron Gate Pass, the deeds of killing Diwu Raccoon, the master of Mount Tibing, and Han Diaosi, the killer cat, also began to quietly spread in the imperial court of Liyang.
A group of people walked to the top of the city wall. Among them, Cao Xiaojiao, who was newly conferred the title of Honglu General, was a short and vigorous middle-aged man. He had a good reputation in the eastern defense line of Beiliang in the north of Youzhou and had accumulated enough military merits. However, because he repeatedly offended Zhong Hongwu, the Great General of Beiliang, he didn't even get the title of a general. After Zhong Hongwu fell, Hsu Fengnian specially asked Beiliang to keep an eye on him for about half a year before he decided to promote him. Of course, Cao Xiaojiao was not a perfect person. He had a strong desire to kill and was ruthless in his management of the army. Many of his subordinates violated the rules and even embezzled the salary of the border guards. Zhong Hongwu used these reasons to keep Cao Xiaojiao in the position of a small lieutenant. Cao Xiaojiao was like a sharp blade that could hurt others, but he could also hurt himself. Hsu Fengnian's use of this person was not without criticism in the Beiliang army. Even the old general Chen Yunchui had some objections. As for Hong Xinjia, who was a full head taller than Cao Xiaojiao, his reputation was much better. Beiliang had a lot of hereditary military records in the Wu Castle. The Gourd Mouth area was especially prominent. The King of the Southern Courtyard once said that even if Beimang threw in 160,000 soldiers, they might not be able to fill it up. More than half of this could be attributed to Hong Xinjia's achievements. He was only mediocre when it came to leading troops in war, but whether it was managing the military affairs or building the Wu Castle system, he was one of the few geniuses in the Liyang Dynasty. He was also a master of investigation and knowledge. Gu Jiantang valued this person a lot. When he was in charge of military affairs in the Northern Region as the Minister of War, it was said that the general had secretly asked Zhang Lu to bring Hong Xinjia to the Liao and improve the defense line. After the request was rejected, there was even a ridiculous attempt to mobilize "Zhaogou" to kidnap Hong Xinjia.
Walking to the top of the city wall, Hsu Fengnian looked to the east with his hands folded in his sleeves. He suddenly turned his head to look at Hong Xinjia, who was a block away from him. He called out Hong Xinjia's nickname, "Lord of the Earth", and said with a smile, "General Gu Jiantang, who is stationed in the Liao, recently offered This King a sky-high price. He promised that as long as he handed over the title of Lord of the Earth, he would help Beiliang get thirty percent more grain and three hundred thousand taels of silver from the imperial court. He also promised that you would be promoted by three ranks. You are only one step away from becoming a Duke. "
Hong Xinjia grinned. "First of all, it doesn't matter if I want to go or not. Second of all, I really don't care about the title of Lord of the Earth, as long as I can get things done. I've managed the Gourd Mouth area for more than ten years, and I can't bear to leave. "
Hsu Fengnian shook his head. "Tell me the truth."
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