Chapter 83 Snipe...
Kill the Hu to establish order!
The more Qiao Yan thought about it, the more he felt that it was feasible.
Whether she wanted to use this method to suppress the Qiang and Hu or not, it would not change one thing.
When she was granted the title of Marquis of Leping and was located in the north of Taihang Mountain, her fate was already closely related to that of Bingzhou.
Even if Guo Jia had not proposed setting a threshold for prisoners, she would still have to face the scourge of the barbarians outside Bingzhou.
Compared with the four battles in the Central Plains, Shangdang is located at the throat and Taiyuan is in a dangerous place, so they have geographical protection.
This protection was needed to guard against invasion from the north, which was a fair enough exchange.
So, what if this only disadvantage could gradually form a cycle, becoming a stable whetstone for capturing prisoners and a place for screening and training soldiers?
This is an excellent supplement to her rule of first merit in which prisoners are replaced as leaders.
Even if one could suppress the Northern and Southern Xiongnu, especially the newly rising Xiutugu Hu, and make the soldiers more confident in marching when attacking the Hu Lu, and gradually establish a stable winning rate, this was something that needed to be gradually improved, just like the first merit system itself.
But it is undeniable that any framework starts from scratch.
The historical knowledge that Qiao Yan possessed was not enough for her to consider all aspects of any issue.
But fortunately, there is still more than a year until the sixth year of Zhongping, and the current situation of the Baibo bandits in the mountains is a perfect opportunity to test whether this method is feasible.
From Guo Jia's perspective, the doubtful look in Qiao Yan's eyes had gradually faded away, and turned into a firmness as sharp as a knife.
"Feng Xiao."
Suddenly hearing her calling his name, Guo Jia was stunned for a moment, and then realized that this was a sign that she had made a decision and then responded.
"May I ask you a question?" Although Qiao Yan did not stand up, her eyes were focused when she looked at him. In addition to the firmness, there was also a sincerity, which was enough for Guo Jia to confirm the seriousness of her words.
Guo Jia had already guessed what she was going to say.
Since he came here, he didn't come just to say a few words.
Although Leping did not see any places that needed to be kept secret from outsiders, he could still guess a thing or two from the details.
This Lord Qiao has a long-term vision and decisive actions. Although he has a bottom line, he never hesitates to show kindness. He is also able to gain the support of people in Leping and is truly qualified to be the core of the operation of a force.
Although he didn't know how the situation would develop in the future, he might as well be youthful and reckless for once and join the service of this Marquis Qiao to see how far she could go in the current situation.
He replied, "Mr. Qiao, please feel free to speak."
Qiao Yan asked, "If I give you the power to decide on the battle against Xiu Tuge, intimidate the Southern Xiongnu, and divide the Xianbei tribe, would you be willing to take it on?"
Guessing it was one thing, but hearing her say it without hesitation, Guo Jia couldn't help but feel moved.
What she said was not just a commission.
Fight, shock, and divide!
This was the basic principle she had decided on in her recent thinking.
It also means that the person who takes on this task must be able to adapt to changing circumstances and have the ability to strike a balance.
Although Qiao Yan has already set the direction, being considered by her as capable of shouldering such a responsibility is in itself a high evaluation and expectation.
Can he handle this responsibility?
able! Why not!
Guo Jia already had some arrogance in his heart, and under the pressure of being entrusted with such power, he instead developed some motivation to accomplish his goal.
He stood up and bowed to Qiao Yan, saying, "If you entrust me with this, Jia will definitely not disappoint Marquis Qiao."
That was his promise.
However, this was clearly a rather serious recruitment occasion, but Qiao Yan could not help but suddenly burst out laughing when he walked up to Guo Jia and helped him up, "Feng Xiao, do you think it's a little too early for me to entrust you with this?"
Now, not to mention that Qiao Yan does not have the identity to grant such power to anyone, the battle against Xiu Tugehu is still a distant thing, and even the Baibo bandits they are discussing have not become prisoners yet. It is indeed a little early to speak too much.
But when Guo Jia stood up with the help of Qiao Yan and looked at her, there was no trace of joking in their smiles.
"Take down the Baibo bandits first, and Marquis Qiao will surely get what he wants."
After saying this, Guo Jia suddenly smiled casually, "But in this case, should I ask Marquis Qiao to write a letter of appointment in advance, so that if someone else comes to surrender in a while, Jia will become a useless person."
Qiao Yan flexed his wrists twice, "Oh, really?"
His suggestion to find faults was indeed to fill in the gaps, and Qiao Yan naturally took a businesslike attitude, but now...
She looked at Guo Jia, who was not even twenty years old but already smelled a bit of alcohol, and felt that it was necessary to leave him behind and go drink the health-preserving soup with Xi Zhicai.
“……” Guo Jia decided to shut up.
Instead of talking nonsense, it would be better to help Qiao Yan think about whether the Baibo bandits can come up with any method to further intensify the internal strife of the other party.
In the face of the bloody invasion of the Xiutuguhu in Guyang, it is better to capture the Baibo bandits as soon as possible.
However, even Qiao Yan and Guo Jia, as well as Zhao Yun who killed Yang Da, probably did not expect that some people did not need them to try to sow discord at all. They had already started attacking each other from within and disintegrating their power.
When that group of people returned to the mountain, the contrast was too obvious.
They also left the camp "fully armed" and attacked the stronghold of the wealthy families.
In fact, the enemies Xu Huang faced seemed to be more difficult to deal with in theory than those faced by the other team.
And he brought even fewer people with him.
However, the result is——
Xu Huang returned with a full load of food, but Li Le and Han Xian returned in a mess, and even Yang Da was killed in this battle.
Yang Fenggang's excitement at seeing the grain carts going up the mountain disappeared without a trace when he heard that his brother had been killed.
He looked at the survivor in front of him with a calm expression and asked, "Who can give me an explanation?"
Why did two thousand people go to Hedong to plunder a fort and end up with such a result?
Since he could become the leader among the four leaders of Baibo, he was naturally not a stupid man. He was keenly aware that when he asked this question, many people cast obscure glances in the direction of Xu Huang, and some of them were condemning him.
He saw it all, but did not show any expression on his face. He just casually pointed at a subordinate and asked him to tell him everything that happened on the way.
This subordinate really did not exaggerate, but simply expressed the situation truthfully and in a straightforward manner.
But probably because he was misled by Li Le and Han Xian, and also wanted to shirk the responsibility for Yang Da's death, he inserted a few words expressing his surprise at the appearance of Leping Hou's troops in that place.
But why should he tell about this unexpected thing?
When Yang Feng heard that Qiao Yan had sent a thousand men to encircle him from behind, his eyelids also jumped.
The place where Zhang Yang was sent by Qiao Yan to train was mainly at the border, but Zhao Yun had actually fought with them.
Even if he didn't know all of Zhao Yun's strength, he had a rough idea of it.
Yang Da's death was not surprising at all as the enemy had the upper hand and attacked from behind.
In short, we cannot blame the people accompanying us for not providing good protection.
But knowing it rationally is one thing, and being unable to accept emotionally that your brother, who depended on you for everything, died here is another.
It was precisely because of this emotional turmoil that when Li Le hinted that someone among them might have been a snitch, he was unable to speak in defense, at least on the surface, as he had done before. He just waved his hand and signaled everyone to leave.
Then, he summoned Xu Huang alone.
Xu Huang was a little worried about Yang Feng's current state. When Li Le, Han Xian and others retreated, Yang Feng did not seem to need to hide his depressed mood. He just forced himself to say to Xu Huang: "Gong Ming, don't pay attention to them. They were unlucky to run into Le Pinghou's team. The death of my second brother was just his fate."
Xu Huang was about to say something to comfort him when he heard him ask, "In Gongming's opinion, will the loss of our troops and generals give the Marquis of Leping an opportunity to attack the mountain?"
Will they take the opportunity to attack?
This is really a difficult question to judge.
But what is certain is that if they continue to allow Qiao Yan to encroach on them in this way, they will be in big trouble sooner or later.
This is what Xu Huang thought and what he said to Yang Feng.
Yang Feng nodded and let him leave.
He weighed this unexpected situation in his mind and made a decision.
Xu Huang is more capable than him, but Yang Feng has been cooperating with him for such a long time, so he doesn't think that he would surrender to the enemy at this time.
On the contrary, Li Le and Han Xian, two incompetent guys, kept coming up with excuses to shirk responsibility, which in his opinion only made their actions more obvious.
These two people stayed in his camp and were of no use at all except to hinder him. They even caused the death of Yang Da.
Now Xu Huang judged that if he allowed them to continue like this, it would only give Leping Hou an opportunity to take advantage. It would be better to take advantage of the other party's shorthandedness and swallow them all in one go.
As for Xu Huang...
Yang Feng closed his eyes and pondered for a moment.
When Marquis Leping was stationing troops in Pingzhou, he could not do anything to this capable general.
At least, not now.
It is more important to deal with Li Le and Han Xian first.
But what these two said was not completely useless. At least it gave him an opportunity to attack Xu Huang in the future.
But Yang Feng didn't know that he might never see what he wanted in the future.
He looked for Xu Huang and expressed his trust in him. Since Xu Huang was in charge of the defense of the camp and would definitely be walking back and forth in the camp, he naturally conveyed this calm emotion to the ears of the two men.
"Do you think Yang Feng can really have no grudges against Xu Huang and continue to entrust him with important tasks?" Because of the accident outside the Wei's fortress, Li Le and Han Xian felt more and more that they were in the same boat and now was the right time for them to huddle together for warmth, so they gathered together again to discuss.
Han Xian thought for a moment and said, "I'm afraid there is a sequence."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Xu Huang respected Yang Feng very much. Now that he is suspected of being involved in Yang Da's death, he has gained Yang Feng's trust, which will only make him more loyal to him. Yang Feng obviously also thinks that it is better to take us down first than to hold his right-hand man accountable."
The blame-shifting operation failed to work, which made the two men somewhat flustered. Even though they later received news that the Leping Marquis' forces stationed in Pingzhou County had continued to withdraw, they did not feel any comfort at this time.
However, in the middle of the night, an uninvited guest came to their temporary residence.
When the other party came to their tent without alerting anyone and took off his cloak to reveal his identity, both of them were shocked.
"Guo Shuai?" This is really an unexpected visitor.
"It's me." Mrs. Guo raised her hand and motioned for the two to go in and talk.
When seeing that the two people were in a state of paranoia, Guo Tai's face revealed a hint of joy, but it was restrained when he looked up.
He originally had the idea of gathering Hu Cai's followers for his own use, and then joining forces with Li Le, Han Xian and others to seize power from Yang Feng, but because his power was the weakest, he was not sure before.
Now, Li Le and his companions lost some of their men when they went to plunder food and supplies, so the three parties can almost be said to be on the same level.
It would be much more beneficial for him to talk about cooperation under such circumstances.
What's more, once Yang Da died, Yang Feng had the opportunity to take advantage of the situation, either to suppress Xu Huang or to deal with Li Le and the others.
Now seeing that Xu Huang is still carrying out his patrol duties as usual, Yang Feng's target is probably the latter.
With a sense of crisis, there is a greater possibility of discussing cooperation.
Mrs. Guo said with a worried look on her face, "I am visiting you tonight because you two are in danger, so I came to warn you."
"What do you mean, General Guo?" Han Xian asked with a frown.
"I have lived not far from Yang Shuai for the past two years, so I naturally know him better than you do. Now that he has the intention to kill me, you two should make plans early."
Li Le and Han Xian looked at each other, and Han Xian continued, "Why did Guo Shuai suddenly come here and say such provocative words?"
"Whether this is an attempt to sow discord or the truth, you two should be able to tell with your brains. As for why I came here to tell you about this," Mrs. Guo said with a wry smile, "Do I need someone to teach me the principle that the lips and teeth are cold when they are separated?"
Mrs. Guo had suffered from Yang Feng for a long time, and there was no intention of pretending to be depressed when she said this.
These two men had just experienced heavy casualties, and now they really had a lot in common with him.
Although there was no wine or food, the more they talked, the more "interested" they became.
Especially when there is nothing in front of them, it makes them think of -
This time, Yang Feng received a large amount of grain from Xu Huang, but he did not intend to distribute it directly on the grounds of quota distribution. He only told them that it would be distributed daily.
There is indeed an invisible tone of charity in this.
So much so that at the end of the discussion, no matter what the three of them thought, they finally reached an exceptionally harmonious and unified idea -
Get rid of Yang Feng first, and then divide up the power in Baibo Valley.
But they are faced with a crucial question: how to do it.
Regardless of whether Yang Feng's trust in Xu Huang was fake or not, it allowed the protection around him to continue to be maintained at a relatively high level.
"Let me take care of this matter." Mrs. Guo made the decision.
Relying on his familiarity with the surrounding terrain, he returned to his camp without alerting Xu Huang and his followers.
Then on the second day, he used the excuse of coming to comfort Yang Da after hearing the news of his death to suggest to Yang Feng that Yang Da was, after all, the second-in-command of Yang Feng's branch, and that he should at least be given a cenotaph and a symbolic memorial service.
And since Yang Da died at the hands of Marquis Leping, it would be better to build a cenotaph for him and his deceased brothers to further publicize the irreconcilable situation between themselves and Marquis Leping, so that everyone on the mountain will be more aware of the irreconcilable position between officials and bandits, and then fully prepare for the attack by Leping troops.
Yang Feng felt that he could easily annex Li Le and Han Xian, let alone Guo Tai, who was chosen by them as a useless role model.
He did not suspect any trick, or rather, he did not think that Mrs. Guo had the ability to set a trap for him, so he immediately agreed to the suggestion.
Out of his guilt towards Yang Da, he cleared out an area and built a tent to serve as the mourning hall.
Also, they received news that there were changes in the north and that the Marquis of Leping intended to withdraw his troops further, so he simply took charge of the arrangement of the mourning hall himself and left the work of defense to Xu Huang.
However, on the second day, when Mrs. Guo sent people to look for Yang Feng, claiming that they had something urgent to discuss, the people who had searched for Yang Feng in vain remembered the memorial site, but found that -
Yang Feng has died here.
No one knows exactly when he died here.
These bandits feel that their heads are hanging on their belts.
They really felt that Yang Da was very unlucky to run into the gun of Leping Hou, especially after someone in the camp said that this place might be unlucky, and after this soul-calling temple was built, they always avoided this place.
What's more, this place is still within their defense range, so I don't think anything will go wrong.
How could...
"Xu Huang!" Guo Tai suddenly shouted angrily, "You have always been the one patrolling and investigating General Yang's territory. If you hadn't done it on purpose, how could such a mistake have happened? General Xiao Yang got into trouble first, and General Yang died here. Who else would have benefited from this except you?"
Before Mrs. Guo could finish her words, Li Le and Han Xian pretended to have rushed over after hearing the news, as if they were standing on Mrs. Guo's side because the inference was reasonable.
What a great case of the villain filing the complaint first!
In the blink of an eye, Xu Huang looked at the performance of the three people in front of him, and couldn't help but think of the expressions of the last two on the way back from Hedong to seize grain.
When I think about how they tried to sow discord but to no avail, what else is there to not understand?
When he thought about how Yang Feng had asked him whether he could resist the attack of Marquis Leping instead of asking him whether he had any connection with Yang Da's death, he felt filled with anger because of Yang Feng's death.
Faced with the doubts of the crowd in front of him, this anger seemed like it was about to burst out at any time.
But the more it was at times like this, the calmer he was.
He looked around and asked loudly, "Brothers, I, Xu Huang, have been friends with you for two years. Do you think I will have any plans for General Yang?"
No one answered.
However, this silence did not mean that they had any doubts about him, but rather that they were confused by this sudden change.
Now seeing that several leaders in their forces were standing on one side, while Xu Huang, who was highly trusted and respected by them, was standing on the other side, it was hard for them not to feel at a loss.
But they immediately heard Xu Huang ask: "If I really wanted to do this, why did I choose a time when people could attack me at any time, and why did I choose a place like this? If I wanted to make General Yang get into trouble, I have countless ways to do it in the past two years. But General Yang has helped me and trusted me. How could I repay a favor with a vengeance?"
His tone was righteous, and his face, which was naturally strong and upright, also contained an aura of generosity. No matter who saw him, they would think that he was indeed a heroic figure.
Moreover, Xu Huang had just led a group of people to rob the stronghold of a powerful person and won them a rich supply of food. His prestige was growing rapidly. It was just as he said, so why bother doing such a thankless task?
Using such crude means to kill Yang Shuai only brought more stigma to himself.
Xu Huang added: "As for these people, two of them led the army incompetently and killed General Xiao Yang, and one tricked General Yang into building a memorial hall. Who knows what they are up to."
"Xu Huang!" Han Xian glared at him, "How dare you speak nonsense here!"
General Guo was looking for an opportunity to kill Yang Feng, and now was the time for them to take advantage of the situation. However, they did not expect that Xu Huang, who had always been taciturn except for proposing the marching plan, would be so eloquent at this moment.
But what they probably didn't expect was not only Xu Huang's sharp words in defending himself, which did not mean for them to throw dirty water at all, but also his extremely strong ability to act at this time.
"I think you are the one who is being presumptuous. If you were only here to look for General Yang, why would you bring so many of your personal guards with you?" Xu Huang said angrily. "If you were not guilty and wanted to seize power, why would you do this?"
He picked up the axe at hand and pointed it in the direction of Han Xian. "If there are any brothers who believe in me, Xu Huang, follow me to capture these three people and take their heads to rest in peace for General Yang's spirit in heaven."
At a time when having enough food to eat is a big deal, Xu Huang's appeal is not just in his character.
In order to avenge Yang Feng, he took the lead and rushed towards Han Xian.
The powerful mountain-splitting axe is undoubtedly the enemy's nightmare when attacking the enemy, but what if it attacks yourself?
Han Xian thought that since he had enough servants and guards by his side, it should be a safe environment for him to attack others.
But with Xu Huang leading the way with an axe, and Xu Huang's patrol followers rushing over, and many of Yang Feng's followers who were more willing to believe that what Xu Huang said was true approaching immediately, he didn't have time to make much of a resistance before Xu Huang chopped off his head with an axe.
Guo Tai and Li Le did not get away with it either, but were captured by another group of Baibo bandits in a moment.
Li Le was not a courageous man to begin with, and facing these successive blows, especially Han Xian's death, how could he remain calm? He immediately revealed everything about Guo Tai being the mastermind behind the assassination of Yang Feng.
He spoke with fear, but in order to save his life, his words were not ambiguous.
The whole cause and effect, especially how Mrs. Guo had someone hide in the mourning hall, were all explained clearly by him at this time.
This is obviously not something that was made up in haste.
"Do you think you can get away with it by putting all the blame on me?" Mrs. Guo said, looking at Li Le coldly.
He really can't get any good out of it.
Because he and Guo Tai were taken to Yang Feng's body together, and then they were killed together.
Now that these three people were dead, it was not a difficult task for Xu Huang to suppress the turmoil caused by the troops of Guo Tai, Li Le and Han Xian.
After all, these people had no advantage in numbers over Yang Feng's former subordinates. Now that their commander was already dead, there was no need for them to be hostile to Xu Huang in order to avenge him.
However, after the culprit who caused the unrest was executed, Xu Huang fell into an unprecedented state of confusion.
He felt that he was not worthy of being the leader of the bandits in the mountains.
It was not so bad when he assisted Yang Feng before. At most, he was just doing things for Yang Feng to repay his kindness.
But if I were to become the leader of these thousand people...
Among these people who became bandits, some were indeed forced to do so, but there were also those who felt that looting was easy money and just what they wanted. Xu Huang was not like Yang Feng, who could overcome this psychological hurdle.
It was for this reason that after properly burying Yang Feng, Xu Huang sent people to distribute food to avoid any unrest in the area, while he sat on the hill and became dazed.
Just at this moment, he suddenly heard someone reporting that someone outside the camp wanted to see him.
"Who is it?" If an ordinary person had come to visit, the person who came to look for him would not have had to show such a surprised and frightened expression.
Xu Huang then heard an answer that he had never expected, "It's Chu Yan."
Chu Yan!
Chu Yan, who had fought with them many times, was under the command of Marquis Leping. If he had come here at another time, the rule of not killing envoys in a battle between two armies would probably not apply to him.
It happened that at this moment, Xu Huang had just experienced such a change and was somewhat confused. He just pretended to be calm and had Chu Yan brought in, and greeted him as if nothing had happened.
One is the commander-in-chief of the Black Mountain Army, and the other is the leader of the White Wave bandits who can be promoted to the top without any mistakes. However, the atmosphere of the meeting seems to be somewhat upright.
Chu Yan looked towards Xu Huang and did not miss the tense look on his face.
After their men who were hiding on the mountain and watching the place from afar realized the turmoil and quickly went down the mountain to report to Lord Qiao, Chu Yan volunteered to go up the mountain to persuade them to surrender.
He had previously wanted to prove to Qiao Yan that he played an irreplaceable role, and this became even more so after he realized that Qiao Yan's abilities were by no means limited to Leping County.
Then apart from mountain warfare——
This is the time.
Because he has the persuasive effect of example more than anyone else.
Of course, people like Zhang Niujiao count as one of them, but if you think about it, you can tell that Marquis Qiao would definitely not be happy to let him do such a thing.
This guy is still copying books now.
"I'm here to show you, Xu Gongming, a clear way forward." Chu Yan withdrew his gaze from the surroundings and turned back to Xu Huang's face.
"If that's all you want to say, you'd better leave as soon as possible." Xu Huang replied coldly.
"Why do you have to refuse so decisively? I just want to tell you as a person who has experienced it why we are loyal to Leping Hou."
Chu Yan paused and asked, "Or do you think that occupying the mountain and becoming the king is also a perfect way to develop? Anyway, the terrain of Baibo Valley is complicated, and you are much more capable than your old boss. If you go out, you will reach the Hedong Plain, and if you go back, you will reach the protected mountainous area. This situation is enough to protect yourself."
This is indeed a unique combat environment.
In addition to Qiao Yan, there were also officers and soldiers who tried to encircle and suppress them before, but they all returned in failure.
but……
"But have you ever thought about one thing? Today, natural disasters are frequent. Even if there are fields and grain in Hedong, there will always be shortages. You can rob local tyrants today, hijack the grain carts of the provincial government tomorrow, but what about the day after tomorrow?"
Chu Yan asked sternly, "Are you going to rob the food from the people who can't survive like you?"
Xu Huang replied subconsciously: "Of course not."
"Then why don't you come with me and see if Leping can give you an answer."
Chu Yan said calmly, "I may have received benefits from Lord Qiao and came here to fill this scene for him. Many brothers in Leping who were originally bandits in the mountains or even refugees from the Central Plains will not all be able to prepare a set of rhetoric."
"Of course, you don't have much time to make this decision," Chu Yan said, although there was a bit of a defiant smile on his face, what was more obvious was that he was confident of winning.
"Marquis Qiao gave you some face and valued your talent, so he gave you this opportunity to choose. Otherwise, you could have seen if we could win by attacking the mountain while the fight between your Baibo leaders ended in death and the troops were still in chaos."
"Two days, two days to travel to Leping. This is the last chance that Qiao Hou will give you."
There is quite a lot of information in Chu Yan's words.
In particular, he clearly stated that the commanders in the mountains were now dead, which undoubtedly disrupted Xu Huang's mood again.
There was no sign to prove this throughout the time Chu Yan was brought in.
Given the location of their camp, it is impossible to have such a clear perspective.
Unless there is a clairvoyant among them.
Two days later, when Xu Huang was on his way from Leping to Qiao Yan's camp, his heart was in turmoil over everything he had seen in Leping. At the same time, he could not resist his curiosity and asked Chu Yan this question.
Chu Yan smiled mysteriously, "Well, you'll know when you meet Qiao Hou."
When Xu Huang met Qiao Yan, the young county lord was playing with a strange cylinder in his hand.
One end of the cylinder is big and the other end is small. You can vaguely see a round piece of water jade inlaid on one end of the cylinder.
She raised her eyes and looked over. "Gongming really made me wait for a long time. I wonder what you think of Leping?"
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