The Bad Guys: Everyone, let’s revive the Tang Dynasty together!

Chapter 339 The World is Watching Me (I)

Anle Pavilion.

Zhong Xiaokui has been taken by Yu Youshu to change her clothes. Meng Po's disguise items have been prepared in advance. Zhong Xiaokui looks like a loli and has a petite figure. It is not difficult to deceive the people of Xuanming Sect as long as she changes her voice.

Let her pretend to be Meng Po, she is only used for these few days. What Xiao Yan is guarding against is not the Xuanming Sect, but the bad people in the Xuanming Sect who may be detonated at any time.

Seeing Zhong Xiaokui easily transform from a young girl into an old woman, Shi Yao knew that Xiao Yan had planned this in advance. Although she had been sneering all the time, she no longer had the momentum she had before and looked quite dejected. She must have hated herself for being so easily fooled by Xiao Yan.

Xiao Yan was eating his meal, and he did not forget to remind her: "Since Tianyouxing is no longer Mengpo, you should change your appearance back. It is really unappetizing to see you sitting opposite me like an old woman, staring at me fiercely."

Shi Yao sneered. She and Xiao Yan were the only ones left in the private room by the window. How could she care whether Xiao Yan had an appetite? She just leaned forward like an old woman and stared into Xiao Yan's eyes: "What do you want to do, Tian Anxing..."

"Why don't I ask you this instead?" Xiao Yan slowly swallowed his food, drank a sip of tea, and said, "Then the Bad Commander kept you in Xuanming Sect for thirty years. What did he want you to do?"

Shi Yao frowned, her face still looking like Meng Po's, which looked very scary under the light, but she obviously didn't care about that. Moreover, Xiao Yan seemed to have a good appetite and ate as if she was air, so he didn't look like he had no appetite at all.

Then, in a flash, Shi Yao was shocked: "You want to use the Xuanming Sect to kill Zhu Wen and seize power?"

"Xuanming Sect?" Xiao Yan chuckled as if he had heard a joke: "Xuanming Sect actually has such strength?"

As he said that, he asked with a smile: "Tianyouxing, why don't you give me a bottom line, how many bad people are there in the Xuanming Sect in Bianjing?"

Shi Yao had a complicated expression and would never tell him.

But before she could say anything, Xiao Yan asked, "One thousand, two thousand? Or three thousand, five thousand?"

As he spoke, Xiao Yan restrained the smile on his face, his expression became cold, and he looked down at Shi Yao from above, his eyes were sharp and substantial.

"Is this Xuanming Sect something that Tianyouxing has spent thirty years plotting? Three thousand five hundred people, dropped into Bianjing, seem like a force that can kill Zhu Wen and take control of the court. However, compared to the imperial guards of Bianjing and the world, what are they? It's just like a mantis trying to stop a chariot."

Shi Yao's back stiffened and she became speechless.

"How sad and lamentable." Xiao Yan put down his chopsticks, looked at the night view of the Bian River outside the window, and said softly: "Bad Man, this is not how it is used."

"The Marshal will not allow you to slander him..." Shi Yao heard the hidden meaning in his words and said coldly.

Xiao Yan's lips curled up, which was considered a smile. Then he turned around and looked at the Tianyou Star expressionlessly, saying, "Then Xiao, please, ask all the bad people in the world to take a look."

"How to use the bad guys?"

------

The night passed in the blink of an eye. The cold wind in the north was as sharp as a blade, but spring was already in the air in Bianjing.

A horse-drawn carriage came from the south, followed by a car and a carriage carrying luggage. When they were still some distance away from the city gate, a noisy atmosphere came towards them.

Bago lifted the car curtain coldly, his narrow eyes slightly half-closed, and peeked at the bustling street scene in the city through the deep doorway, and he couldn't help being stunned.

This glimpse stunned the imperial guard officer who happened to be looking at the city gate. He pulled his colleagues beside him and pointed at Bago to comment.

Bago was still admiring the prosperity of Bianliang in the Central Plains, but when he saw this scene, he snorted coldly, lowered the curtains, sat in the carriage with his arms folded, and fell into deep thought.

Outside the car, there were obviously nosy voices of questioning from the Imperial Guard officers.

"Mr. Chenliu County, transferred to the position of Deputy Director of the Ministry of Works... Oh, such a good job in a government office with little money, but it fell on your head. What's your name?"

Ba Ge heard the magistrate of Chenliu County, who was now nominally her distant uncle, say kindly: "My dear brother, my last name is Zang He, and I am here with my family..."

"Alright, alright, I know what's in your heart. I just want to ask you, is the young lady in your car married?"

Bago listened to the noise outside with a sullen face in the car, but did not move. Nowadays, military men are in power and scholars live by others. Not to mention that the magistrate of Chenliu County is only a deputy minister of the Ministry of Works, even if he was one rank higher, the generals of the imperial guards would dare to point at his nose and scold him.

Fortunately, this entanglement did not last too long, and Bago could not possibly bother with such people, so he quickly entered the city.

The Chenliu County Magistrate, who was over 40 years old, went to report to the Ministry of Works first, while Bago and his family moved into a pre-rented house in the south of the city, which made Bago quite disgusted.

But she was here to complete a mission after all, so she could only live in a place that suited her status. She didn't care too much about it, and quickly packed up and took a maid to visit Anle Pavilion.

The prosperity of Bianliang far exceeded Bago's expectations. She was a Shatuo. Although Jin was rich, it was far from prosperous. All the prefectures and counties were like military towns without much cultural atmosphere. Therefore, the impact of Bianliang on her was extremely strong.

When she arrived at Anle Pavilion, she was amazed by the shock.

She finally understood why Xiao Yan had a reputation in the Central Plains for "making money in a good way". The luxury of Anle Pavilion and the booming business were beyond her imagination.

Even if she brought her maid with her to broaden her horizons, she had to wait in line for a long time before getting a seat, not to mention trying to get any useful information from them.

"It seems that if I want to get close to Xiao Yan again, I can only think of a way from you." After returning home, Bago said to the Chenliu County Magistrate who looked a little bitter.

The magistrate of Chenliu County smiled bitterly and said, "My lord, I don't have the qualifications..."

"I asked you to come up with a solution." Bago frowned, "I didn't ask you to come up with an idea right away."

The promoted county magistrate dared not say much. He went down and ran around for two days, but when he came back on the third day, he was sweating profusely.

"My lord, according to my speculation, the champion marquis Xiao Yan seems to be leaving the capital."

Bago frowned and asked, "Why do you think so?"

"I heard from a colleague that one of the imperial guards, the Guide Army, has secretly set out at 3:00 pm today. The Guide Army's camp still needs our Ministry of Works to maintain and repair it..."

Bago stood up suddenly, frowning.

Ordinary officials were hardly qualified to know about the Guide Army's stationing in Hebei, and there had been no news of it. But now they suddenly left Beijing secretly. Where were they going?

Baguo didn't have time to think about it. After sending the county magistrate away, he hurriedly summoned the disciple named Ren who was responsible for contacting her and asked him to quickly pass the message to Taiyuan.

After calming down, Bago immediately realized another problem.

If Xiao Yan leaves Beijing, won't I have to wait here in Bianliang?

------

Xuanming Sect.

In the underground palace, Zhu Youwen stood at the bottom of the stairs with his back bent, and said with a smile: "Your Highness really has a good plan. First, let me force the Guide Army out, and then use a trick to delay Xiao Yan in the capital for many days. In this way, Xiao Yan will have no soldiers and no longer pose a threat in the city."

The Dark Emperor laughed shrilly, sat on the throne made of a skull, and said, "I heard that Xiao Yan wanted to see the Emperor many times in the past few days?"

"I won't give him a chance." Zhu Youwen said with a smile, "I can guess that this guy must want to make some promises to the old man so that the old man will believe him. Oh, Your Highness has put many obstacles in Xiao Yan's way in Hebei. Xiao Yan may think that Your Highness wants to seize his power in Hebei, but he doesn't know that the killer move is in this capital..."

The Dark Emperor laughed triumphantly, and said to Zhu Youwen with a sidelong glance: "This is a strategy of making a feint to the east and attacking in the west. The attention of the court has been drawn to Hebei by me, so how can they care about the changes in front of them? Xiao Yan is no better than this!"

Zhu Youwen agreed with this and seemed somewhat excited. He lowered his voice and said, "At present, Your Highness has sent away the Tianxing Army, Longxiang Army, and Guide Army. There is no resistance in Bianjing. Should we..."

“It’s almost done, it’s almost done…” The Dark Emperor’s face was somewhat ferocious, and he spread out his palm, with a raging Yin energy on it: “Please allow me to be in seclusion for a few more days. After I come out of seclusion, I will personally kill all those who disobey me.”

"Then let Xiao Yan live for a few more days." Zhu Youwen bowed respectfully.

------

After crossing the Yellow River and heading north, it was chilly spring again, and the march was not pleasant.

After Ge Congzhou was appointed as the commander of Youzhou a few days ago, he led the Guide Army to advance northward. Under him was the deputy commander Zhao Yan, and the two of them led the Tianxing Army to enter Youzhou.

Ge Congzhou was appointed as the governor of Youzhou and stationed in Youzhou. In name, his mission was to assist Xiao Yan in capturing Yanmen Pass, but in reality, he was dividing power in Hebei. Together with Kang Huaiying of Cangzhou, he formed two nails in Hebei to prevent Xiao Yan from gaining too much power in Hebei and harboring rebellious thoughts.

Speaking of which, Ge Congzhou and Kang Huaiying were both veteran generals of Daliang, and their status was so high that they were considered to be the highest among the ministers.

But this time in Hebei, the two of them were on guard against the younger generation Xiao Yan. No matter what, they seemed to be inferior to Xiao Yan. No one knew what Kang Huaiying thought, but Ge Congzhou was not comfortable anyway.

He had been suffering from serious illness in recent years and had been planning to retire and return home. It was unexpected that he was suddenly sent to Youzhou, not to mention that there was such a purpose. However, Ge Congzhou was loyal to Zhu Wen, so he had no choice but to accept the assignment despite his reluctance.

The only thing that made him unhappy was that the deputy commander Zhao Yan, who was nominally under him, was actually Zhu Wen's son-in-law and clearly intended to be a military supervisor.

Ge Congzhou was very resentful about this, but thinking that this might be the last time he would leave the town in his life, he just thought, out of sight, out of mind, and dragged his sick body to lead the vanguard army in person. He crossed the Yellow River the day before yesterday, and today he urged the troops to hurry north through Weizhou.

The sky was gloomy and the whole team was a little dull. Most of the Tianxing Army were infantry. Although the central government allocated a batch of horses, they were mostly used to transport military supplies and equipment. The soldiers were naturally unhappy about having to travel for days on foot.

Ge Congzhou understood all this, but Zhu Wen's order to him was to get to Youzhou before the Guide Army. He needed to take control of the situation in Youzhou first before he could check and balance Xiao Yan later. Now he had no choice but to grit his teeth and put his manpower under pressure.

Later, the imperial son-in-law, the deputy commander of Youzhou, Zhao Yan, came up with his men. After exchanging a few pleasantries, he smiled bitterly and said, "Grandmaster Ge, aren't we marching too hard? The soldiers have been marching for three days without a break. If this continues, I'm afraid the soldiers will get upset..." "I'll take care of everything," Ge Congzhou replied stiffly, "Your Majesty's will is in front of us. We can't delay any longer. The Guide Army only set out three or four days later than us. Do you think the Guide Army will catch up with you?"

Zhao Yan was angry, but he didn't want to offend Ge Congzhou, so he just bowed perfunctorily and left with suppressed unhappiness.

The army marched for another two hours in a row. When it was time for dinner, Ge Congzhou ordered the entire army to stop and rest for a while. He also sent his close generals to gather the chaotic marching formation.

Zhao Yan was unhappy with him and did not come over to eat. The two generals each led their own generals, one in the front and the other in the rear, seemingly keeping to themselves.

But when Zhao Yan was sitting down at the stool and small table prepared by his subordinates to eat, he saw that the chaotic ranks of the army in front suddenly became more agitated. He became suspicious and was frightened, fearing that the soldiers below were causing trouble, so he hurriedly led several generals to rush over.

However, Ge Congzhou had a serious expression on his face. Several generals were supporting a messenger on a fast horse with a red flag on its back. Both the messenger and the horse were covered in sweat and looked exhausted.

Judging from his attire, he is Zhao Wang Rong's man.

Zhao Yan was anxious, and regardless of Ge Congzhou's presence, he asked hurriedly, "What happened? Did the State of Jin send troops to attack the King of Zhao?"

The messenger was holding the banner, feeling dizzy and thinking that Zhao Yan was the Grand Tutor Ge of Daliang mentioned by the generals. He hurriedly reported, "Grand Tutor Ge, a large army has suddenly rushed south from the north and has passed Weizhou a few days ago! The counties along the Zhao territory have all reported an emergency. According to the report, there are at least 10,000 cavalrymen and at least 20,000 horses accompanying them!"

"The King of Zhao urgently sent us south to remind Bianjing to quickly build defenses along the Yellow River!"

Zhao Yan's face turned pale instantly.

Not only him, but also Ge ​​Congzhou and the generals on both sides were all terrified.

No one cared about why this terrifying force of tens of thousands of cavalry had suddenly appeared in front of them. Ge Congzhou immediately ordered the entire army to turn back and retreat to the county town of Qingfeng behind them.

At the same time, he urgently ordered messengers to run on both sides, one to quickly notify the ferry along the Yellow River to collect the boats, and the other to notify Kang Huaiying and Wang Yanzhang's troops in Cangzhou hundreds of miles away to prepare to lead the Longxiang Army to rush to Qingfeng for assistance.

As for Zhao Yan, he had all sorts of mixed thoughts in his mind and his lips were already pale. He wanted to grab Ge Congzhou and say something, but Ge Congzhou didn't have the time to care about him. The ten thousand cavalry had passed Weizhou yesterday and were only a hundred miles away from here. Who knows, they might come to kill him while they were talking!

Two groups of messengers galloped out separately. In order to ensure speed, Ge Congzhou even ordered all the good horses in the army to be given to the messengers to deliver messages.

Not to mention the one that went east to Cangzhou, the other group, with two messengers on six horses, galloped a hundred miles in one breath to the bank of the Yellow River, when it was almost dusk.

In the evening, there was a thin mist on the river. The two messengers shouted on the river bank for most of the day but no one answered. After the river mist dissipated a little, they found that there was no one on the north bank of the ferry crossing on both sides of the Yellow River, and the pier was even more deserted.

At the ferry on the south bank, hundreds of large ships were lined up in a black mass and moored at the pier, with flags fluttering on the ships, all of which were the flags of the Guide Army.

Guide Army?
Return to Germany! ?

How did the Guide Army reach the Yellow River crossing so quickly?

The two messengers were both stunned. One of them wanted to shout to the other side, but they heard two sounds of breaking through the air. They both felt a chill on their backs, and then they groaned and fell from the river bank into the rolling river.

Several figures wearing conical hats came on horseback at dusk, took six ownerless mounts, and galloped away into the distance.

------

While Ge Congzhou urgently ordered the Tianxing Army under his command to return, he also hurriedly dispatched cavalry to the prefectures and counties along the Yellow River to warn the towns and to gather the garrisons in various places to guard the ferry.

He is a veteran general. Although the 4,000 Tianxing troops under his command are the elite imperial guards, they have lost their fighting spirit after days of marching. Moreover, the enemy has arrived suddenly. There is no way that 4,000 infantrymen can stop 10,000 cavalry.

At this time, the only way was to avoid fighting, with the Tianxing Army as the main force and the garrisons from various places united to hold the 10,000 cavalrymen to the north of the Yellow River. No matter what, they could not let the 10,000 cavalrymen cross the river and go south. Once they crossed the Yellow River, the road to Bianliang would be smooth.

Once these ten thousand cavalrymen cross the river, they will destroy the Central Plains!
Fortunately, he had urgently ordered the ferry to collect the boats, otherwise the troops from the north would have no boats to cross the river.

What the hell are Hebei and other counties doing? With tens of thousands of cavalry and horses, they are able to rush through Weizhou in one breath without making any noise and being discovered?
But Ge Congzhou soon had no time to criticize the Hebei counties and prefectures along the way. He was horrified to find that even if his army tried their best to return to the army, two legs could not outrun four legs. When they were still several miles away from Qingfeng County behind them, scouts came to report that they had seen the shadows of the cavalry in the north!
If we disregard everything and retreat to the county town at this time, we would be seeking death, and even the county town would suffer as well.

Ge Congzhou took a deep breath and immediately ordered the exhausted army to dig deep trenches and set up camp. He could only pray that night was about to fall and that the enemy's movements would slow down a little.

Zhao Yan didn't dare to care about anything unhappy anymore. With a pale face, he stood on a slope with Ge Congzhou. With white lips, he watched the soldiers around him digging holes desperately. He felt like his heart was about to jump out.

"Report, the enemy cavalry is five miles away!"

"Report, the enemy cavalry is only three miles away... two miles away!"

Too fast, too fast indeed.

Even if Ge Congzhou had listened to Zhao Yan's advice and abandoned his armor, baggage and other things and retreated into the county town, he would still be unable to defeat the ten thousand cavalrymen rushing south at a rapid speed!

Zhao Yan was shivering all over, not knowing whether it was because the wind was too cold or he was too scared. He carefully observed Ge Congzhou, but saw that this Master Ge, who had fought in more than a hundred battles, had a solemn expression on his face and said nothing.

"Wait to die."

Suddenly, Ge Congzhou stared towards the north and uttered these words.

Zhao Yan forced a smile. He wanted to encourage this Shandong Yitiao Ge who had made great military achievements, but when he heard panic all around the hillside, his heart trembled and he quickly looked up to the north.

Then I saw smoke and dust rising in the north, and in just a blink of an eye, a large ink-colored flag with the words "Dingba" written on it came into view.

There was a big flag in front, and behind it there were countless fluttering flags of various tribes. The sounds of people shouting and horses neighing were more than just a deafening roar, just like a thunderclap that covered the entire desolate road in an instant.

There were countless knights, a cavalry army that was not exaggerated at all in the report of King Zhao!

A rolling torrent came from the north, and the mounts, which were much taller than those in the Central Plains, were all loaded with sturdy and brave knights. Although only the vanguard wore armor during this march, the weapons behind them were like a jungle, filling everyone's sight.

The smoke and dust were like clouds, as if they were going to cover the sky. Endless cavalry rushed out from the smoke and dust, rolling southward under countless flags. No matter how stupid Zhao Yan was, he could still cut off the torrent in front of him by relying on the flags and scale. There were at least thirty or forty commanders, and as many as seven or eight thousand people.

These seven or eight thousand cavalrymen are all strong and muscular northern men, holding spears and bows, each riding two or three horses, and giving strict orders. They are real iron cavalry that can strike fear into all enemies!
The armored front army, with both men and horses equipped with armor, was so well-equipped that even the Bianliang Imperial Guards could only envy them, not to mention the armor and horse armor carried on the backs of the pack horses. If the entire army was in armor, they would truly be an out-and-out iron cavalry!

Behind these iron cavalrymen with strict orders, there was an endless stream of troops and horses coming, all of them were cavalrymen, but they did not seem to be integrated with the front army. Their uniforms and equipment were different, and they looked like light cavalry, guarding both sides of the main army, surging like waves, and from the visual point of view, there were even more of them than the iron cavalrymen.

More than ten thousand horses? More than twenty thousand horses?
These cavalrymen all rode two or three horses. Their large scale, powerful momentum, and strong oppression made Zhao Yan's legs tremble.

Are there so many war horses in the whole of Hebei?
What he didn't know was that this time Xiao Yan summoned Ding Badu to the south, and originally only summoned Ding Badu and 10,000 Yan soldiers. However, when the whole Liaodong heard that this trip was for Xiao Yan to consolidate his power and purge the government and the country, all the powerful people who were attached to Xiao Yan were in an uproar. With a steady stream of troops and horses gathering in one place, how could they be defeated by ten thousand cavalry?

The soldiers of the Tianxing Army who were desperately digging pits on all sides of the hillside looked at the murderous aura that filled the sky and the earth before them, and the thousands of cavalry galloping like thunder and shaking the earth. They all felt dry in their mouths and had no strength to dig pits. All the people gathered together had already lost their courage before the battle even started. Not to mention the ordinary soldiers, even the usually fierce generals felt powerless.

Everyone had already decided to die, even Ge Congzhou was no exception. How could a mere 4,000 tired infantrymen resist these tens of thousands of cavalry? Were they really going to fight to the death on this dirt slope?

But to everyone's surprise, the armored vanguard of the cavalry, marching in strict order, did not even look at the Tianxing Army surrounding the hillside. The torrent roared past on both sides, still rushing southward.

The two sides were so close that the Tianxing Army could even see the indifference on the faces of the tiger warriors among the cavalry. The disdain and murderous aura that made people dare not breathe was so overwhelming that no one dared to shoot an arrow at them.

Zhao Yan's face turned pale as he stared at the scene blankly. Even though he had a bold guess in his mind, his Adam's apple moved and he couldn't utter a word.

Ge Congzhou stood there for a long time like a statue of a hero in his twilight years, staring at the magnificent scene before him, and sighed woodenly: "Ding Badu, Ding Badu... How could no one in the court have expected that the fellow had such a hidden trick..."

He ignored Zhao Yan beside him and laughed at himself: "Your Majesty, sending me to Hebei, isn't that ridiculous? Even if I get to Youzhou, what's the use? They have far-reaching ambitions, how can I stop them? The court is staring at Hebei, but they have long been eyeing the country..."

Zhao Yan's face was frozen, and he asked eagerly, "Master, there are hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses in each town of Daliang. We can't..."

Ge Congzhou just laughed and didn't bother to pay attention to him. As long as Xiao Yan controlled the core, he would have his own way to stabilize the Daliang regime, which was beyond the imagination of these two stray dogs.

The only thing that puzzled him was how could these tens of thousands of cavalrymen and tens of thousands of horses cross the river?

------

On the bank of the Yellow River, countless flags were flying, and large groups of knights who were drinking from the riverbank stopped their horses, all looking south.

To the south is the Central Plains.

It’s Bian Jing, it’s General Xiao.

The road ahead is smooth and there are no more obstacles.

It seemed that in just a moment, the fog on the surging river dissipated, and hundreds of large ships came from the south bank, and there were countless large and small boats, as if the entire Yellow River was full of boats.

On a large ship in front, the flag of the Guide Army was fluttering in the wind. Han Yanhui stood at the bow, his beard swaying in the wind and a smile on his face.

He crossed his arms and saluted from a distance to the tens of thousands of cavalrymen on the shore, and said in a loud voice: "General Xiao, I, Han, welcome you all to the capital!"

In just a moment, thunderous cheers suddenly rang out on the river bank.

"Xiao Shuai! Xiao Shuai! Xiao Shuai!"

(End of this chapter)