Chapter 283 behind the messenger

  The Instigator Behind Chapter 283

  The general manager of Xiazhou came in person, and what he was escorting was the food that everyone in the barracks looked forward to, so he should be welcomed by the soldiers.

  The two sides greeted each other, and the first two rounds of polite words were all smiling, and there was a great affinity at first sight.

  After all, Xiazhou’s safety still depends on Zhao Pan.

  Whether the battle on the northern front can continue depends on whether Director He can transport food here.

  The two sides are interdependent, which determines that the relationship has been very close from the beginning.

  Zhao Pan seems to have grown up according to the template of a general in the minds of ordinary people, with a thick back, thick eyebrows and beard, and boldness written on his face. When he laughs, he seems to be able to knock down the small trees beside him.

  The army rations were delivered, and the frontier army went to take over. He Chunhua’s team can finally rest.

  Zhao Pan dragged He Chunhua into the camp, and wanted to serve him wine.

  It was the beginning of Shen Shi (after three o’clock in the afternoon), and there were only five people sitting in the big tent. On the opposite side is Zhao Pan and a lieutenant general, and here are He Chunhua and his son and Elder Liang.

   It is worth mentioning that there is also a hornbill standing on Zhao Pan’s shoulder, half body yellow and half body black, with an astonishingly large curved mouth, which accounts for at least one-third of the body length, and an exaggerated helmet protrusion above the eyes.

  He Lingchuan doubted whether the hornbill’s two small eyes could see the scene directly in front of him with the helmet protruding.

  After the introduction, the meal was served.

  He Lingchuan saw that there were different things on each table: mixed rice, stewed meat, and a small bowl of wine.

  Then, the wine bowl was filled to the brim, and it was quite fragrant.

  There were two bowls of meat on Zhao Pan’s table, because the hornbill on his shoulder jumped onto the table and started pecking at the meat.

  It has no hands, but it has a big mouth. It throws the meat into the air, opens its mouth to catch it, and swallows it.

   One bite after another, very fast.

“This morning, a big wild boar of three or four hundred catties hit the fence, and then it became the bowl of meat on the table. Otherwise, I really couldn’t come up with anything other than miscellaneous rice, wild vegetables and this jar of wine. Things to treat guests.” Zhao Pan laughed, “I probably know that Master He is coming, otherwise we haven’t seen any living things on the front line for a long time.”

  The birds and beasts in the nearby mountains and forests have long been eaten up by the hungry soldiers.

  Many beans were added to the brown rice. He Lingchuan could only recognize soybeans and mung beans, and there was another kind of mottled color. Pork is just boiled, only salt is added. When He Lingchuan put a piece into his mouth, he felt that his mouth was full of smell, and it was hard to swallow.

   Wild boar and domestic pig have very different meat quality.

  The front line of this war is short of food all day long, and there is almost no food to eat, let alone what ginger, garlic, pepper, aniseed, and soy sauce are used to remove fishy smell and increase fragrance.

  However, He Lingchuan ate without frowning. When he was squatting on the Chipa Plateau to guard monsters, he stuffed more unpalatable and weirder things into his mouth.

  On the contrary, Elder Liang only took a bite, and then he put the chopsticks down and refused to eat.

  Zhao Pan glanced over and saw everything in his eyes.

  He Chunhua on the other side also talked about the battle on the road, and then apologized: “I am ashamed of my king’s trust. I only transported 9,000 shi of the 20,000 shi of grain raised by the king’s court. I am really incompetent!”

Before he reached the front line, he sent a special envoy to deliver the news, so Zhao Pan had thought about the news several times, digested it several times, filtered out most of the negative situations, and only shook his head and sighed: “Thanks to Mr. He personally escorting, If it were someone else, I’m afraid they wouldn’t be able to keep a grain of food from Hong Chenglue’s hands!”

  He Lingchuan looked at his father and saw that he was hesitant to speak, so he said on his behalf: “Is General Zhao’s evaluation of Hong Chenglue so high? We rarely heard this name before.”

“Hong Chenglue’s reputation is all in the demon country in the north. He fought more wars with the countries in the east, so his deeds are rarely spread here. But Nian Zanli and I have been stationed in the north all year round, so we are very clear about his past.” Zhao Pan waved his hand. He said, “Those who are good at fighting have no great achievements. In today’s troubled times, there are many people who become famous in one battle. How many people can win a hundred battles, or even win without fighting? Let me talk about one more person, you must know—”

   “Hong Xiangqian.”

  He Chunhua was slightly stunned: “The leader of the rebel army?” Zhao Pan suddenly mentioned this person, and He Chunhua immediately realized that both of them were surnamed Hong.

   “That’s right, Hong Xiangqian, the leader of the bandits who disrupted the central region and invaded the capital, is Hong Chenglue’s brother!”

  The He family father and son were very surprised: “Hong Xiangqian’s brother is actually in Xiazhou?”

   What Hong Xiangqian committed was the crime of family punishment, that is to say, Hong Chenglue is considered a fugitive?

“Yes, the gap between the two brothers is very deep, and Hong Chenglue didn’t help Hong Xiangqian to rebel. Otherwise, it’s hard to say whether Ke Jihai and the others can defeat Hong Xiangqian and relieve the crisis in the capital.” Zhao Pan sighed. “Hong Chenglue is the best at capturing opportunities. He was able to defeat others without fighting in at least two key battles. Mr. He was able to keep nearly 10,000 shi of grain from him. I dare not ask for more.”

  He Chunhua frowned: “But this person wandering behind our army is always a major hidden danger, and we must try to get rid of it.”

  He has seen Hong Chenglue’s slickness before. Last night, he escaped from the Xiazhou army twice and almost killed his son.

  All of Hong Chenglue’s opponents wished to kill him, but he is still alive and well.

  Thinking of this, another thought suddenly popped up in He Chunhua’s heart.

   “Surrender without fighting…?”

  Zhao Pan put down the bowl: “What did Master He say?”

   “Oh, it’s nothing.” He Chunhua raised his wine bowl, “I offer a bowl to General Zhao. With your town, the blessing of the big kite.”

  Zhao Pan is a general who is as famous as Ke Jihai and Wu Di. If another person comes over, he really can’t stop the offensive of Nian Zanli.

  He raised his bowl and drank it all in one gulp, but he was not humble.

“My son was visiting Bailu Town, and I heard that Hong Chenglue and his wife lived in seclusion there for three years, and they lived in poverty.” The proud and famous general lived in seclusion and was willing to suffer from poverty. He didn’t dare to write like this in his script, because he didn’t make money at all. . He Chunhua asked again, “What is going on here, does General Zhao know the truth?”

“There are many versions passed down from the demon country in the north. The most widely circulated one is that Hong Chenglue was in distress when he was young. He was rescued by his wife Ajin twice in distress. The two wandered and endured hardships together, so they had a deep relationship. He made a blood oath to seal the sword, but unfortunately his son died young and his wife was also paralyzed. He was discouraged and bound by the oath, so he simply resigned from office and lived in seclusion in the countryside.”

  He Chunhua couldn’t help laughing: “Nonsense. Such a trivial matter can make a powerful general seal his sword? Child’s play!”

“I don’t think so either. But folks love this kind of storybook the most.” Zhao Pan laughed, “I heard in the early years that Hong Chenglue was once involved in the royal infighting, and he was on the wrong team. Hehe, you and I both know the danger. So it is very likely that he resigned to avoid disaster, perhaps in the name of his wife’s dystocia. This is also a good and fast run, otherwise after the new Emperor Bega , may not be magnanimous.”

  Even if there was, Hong Chenglue didn’t dare to bet at that time.

   “It makes a little sense.” He Chunhua pondered, “But he is coming back now and leading troops for the people of Xunzhou. This is probably behind the back of the demon kingdom in the north.”

“That’s inevitable. Nian Zanli has suffered two defeats under his command, but Hong Chenglue is now leading soldiers from Xunzhou. If it wasn’t for the northern demon kingdom’s instruction, how could he serve the defeated generals?” Zhao Pan snorted, “Everywhere In wars, there are shadows of demon kingdoms disrupting the situation everywhere. But it still doesn’t end by itself, hateful!”

  He Chunhua hummed, thoughtfully.

   After everyone chatted for so long, the meal was already done.

  Zhao Pan is quite considerate: “You have come from a long way, and it is getting dark, I will not disturb your rest.”

  He Chunhua said: “It’s okay, I want to go to the front line now.”

  The new governor of Xiazhou loves his post and is dedicated to his work. Unlike those pampered officials, Zhao Pan will certainly not object: “Then please follow me.”

  Of course, He Lingchuan also followed his father and toured the front line together.

  It turns out that the enemy and us are bounded by a Han River, which is about fifteen feet wide. The north of the river was occupied by Xunzhou people, and the south of the river was stationed by Zhao Pan’s army.

  The camp of the Yuan State Army was fairly neatly stationed, and the opposite bank was also brightly lit. From where He Lingchuan was standing, one could still see the figure of a sentinel holding a spear in the Xunzhou Army Camp.

  The distance between the two sides is so close, but the atmosphere is still peaceful at the moment.

  He Chunhua also asked: “Didn’t you fight recently?”

  Even on the front line, they don’t work every day.

   “In the past two days, we will plant seedlings in the farmland behind, and the front line has agreed to avoid fighting.” Zhao Pan pointed to the yellow flag flying in front of the camp.

   “It seems that the food in Xunzhou is not rich.” Otherwise, the people of Xunzhou should attack vigorously and destroy the opportunity for the Yuan army to reclaim the land.

   “Xunzhou suffered a drought last year, and the grain harvests were in short supply. If Hong Xiangqian hadn’t suddenly attacked Woling Pass this year, and Da Sima had launched a national revolt, I guess Nian Zanli would not have chosen to defect and treason this year.”

   “Northern demon kingdom not support?”

   “After Sun Fuping was killed, Nian Zanli’s rebellion was revealed, so he had to surrender to the Beja Kingdom first. I heard that the Beja Kingdom’s attitude towards him was relatively cold.”

  He Chunhua smiled: “Rushing forward is not a business.” If Beja Kingdom took the initiative to persuade him to surrender, he must be treated very well.

“That’s right, if Bega supports the New Year’s celebration, asking for money for money and food for food, we won’t be able to hold on for so long.” Zhao Pan said bitterly, “It just wants to watch us internally fight and reap the benefits in the future. Congrats to the idiot!”

   “However, the Northern Demon Kingdom has also taken action now, using Hong Chenglue as the leader.” He Chunhua pondered, “Its strategy towards the Yuan Kingdom may have changed.”

Zhao Pan sighed: “There are no outsiders here, let me explain to you. Mr. He, in the eyes of an ancient country with a long history like the northern demon country, we are actually a small state of Cuoer. Its current center of gravity is in the east. It should be I’m not interested in reaching out here.”

  He Chunhua was silent. Beja’s attitude towards the New Year’s tribute shows the country’s arrogance.

   After all, it has always been a strong one in its six hundred years of history.

  He Chunhua’s state of mind is very subtle, as if he should be grateful for Beja’s ignorance of this place, otherwise Xiazhou would be in jeopardy.

  (end of this chapter)