Big man: I am the Champion Marquis!

The long-lost Cao Zong came to the Marquis Guanjun's Mansion, looking like he was worried.

Looking at this good brother, Huo Xian asked with a smile, "What's wrong? You are the Marquis of Pingyang and the grandson of His Majesty. Do you think someone would bully you?"

Cao Zong said bluntly, "Most people don't dare to mess with me, but if someone causes trouble, I will be bothered."

Huo Xian became even more curious, "Then you have to tell me. I want to know who caused the trouble and made you worry. I have to meet such a capable person."

Seeing that Huo Xian didn't seem to be playing dumb, Cao Zong was speechless. Some people might just not be self-aware, or they might not be aware of their own problems.

Seeing Cao Zong's somewhat resentful expression, Huo Xian lost confidence. "You have been talking for a long time. Are you talking about me? I swear to God, I have not caused you any trouble."

"You have been hunting down thieves everywhere and have captured quite a few tyrants. These people must have some connections with you." Cao Zong explained speechlessly, "They don't dare to beg you, but they dare to beg me!"

This seems to make sense. Although Cao Zong has a special identity and a high status, he is a relatively standard and traditional dignitary and has many connections.

Some of them are not only his network of relationships in the army, but also many "family friends" handed down from his ancestors. Being as unrestrained as Huo Xian is something that Cao Zong cannot do.

Huo Xian seemed a little embarrassed, but then he laughed, "If I really provoke you, you can just push it onto me. Anyway, I'm not afraid of offending people. These people only bully the weak and fear the strong."

"That's not the case. They don't dare to embarrass me." Cao Zong laughed and said confidently, "I am the Marquis of Pingyang after all. It's just that I have a good temper."

Cao Zong's temper was not necessarily very good, but compared to Huo Shan, he had a good temper.

So it is said that some good people are really easy to be "bullied" by others, but no one bothers people like Huo Xian who are not afraid of troubles.

His ancestor was Cao Shen, and he was the grandson of the emperor. Now he was the rear general, a general with a high title. Cao Zong was admired by countless people, both in terms of family background and official position. He was one of the most powerful people in the Han Dynasty.

There is no doubt about these things, and anyone with a discerning eye can see them. Those who come to Cao Zong to plead for mercy basically have a certain status, but most of them also know their limits.

Huo Xian no longer concealed the truth, "I am too lazy to care about the thief-hunting matter. Now the matter is basically over. If you need a favor, I can help you."

Cao Zong immediately smiled and said, "That would be the best. I'm just afraid that the relationship between those people would ruin the friendship between you and me."

Having too many relationships is not necessarily a good thing, because then you will have more things to consider.

Fortunately, Huo Xian now seems not so keen on catching thieves, which naturally means that Cao Zong can take advantage of some favors, which does him no harm.

After all, they are the powerful and wealthy who follow the standard template, and most of the time they are thinking about maximizing their profits. This is not necessarily a bad thing, and there is nothing wrong with doing so.

However, Cao Zong was also somewhat curious. "Now everyone in Chang'an is saying that you want to catch the thief. Now that he's been caught, you've lost interest?"

"I boasted before, and it would be embarrassing if I couldn't catch him." Huo Xian said, "Now that the Prime Minister has helped me catch him, I won't do such a thankless task anymore."

Hearing what Huo Shan said, Cao Zong laughed with glee. He had no doubt that Huo Shan could do such a thing, and in fact, in his opinion, all this was very normal.

Catching thieves was indeed Huo Xian's hobby. Many people were paying attention to this matter, mainly because it was a little loud and attracted a lot of discussion and attention.

Under such circumstances, it naturally meant that Huo Xian was in a difficult situation and could only force himself to get things done, otherwise it would be really embarrassing.

Now that there are no more concerns in this regard, I can step down gracefully, and there is no problem with that.

Huo Xian asked casually, "How is the cleanup going with the people we arranged with the Crown Prince?"

Cao Zong said seriously, "Don't worry, many things have been arranged clearly. You should also pay attention. The prince and I are just arranging some people to join the Southern Army. It's not a big deal."

It's not that it's not a big deal, but some of what Huo Xian said is easy to be misunderstood. Those who don't know may think that Liu Ju and Cao Zong are discussing rebellion, but in fact it's nothing more than arranging Liu Ju's people to join the Southern Army.

Some people even think that these are just normal personnel transfers, etc., and it seems that there is nothing to be surprised about.

However, these only seem normal, because given Liu Che's suspicion, arrangements like Liu Ju and Cao Zong are very sensitive. The positioning of the Southern Army is somewhat different, and the emperor will not allow the prince to interfere.

Huo Xian smiled and said, "This arrangement is naturally the best. Although the army has me and the general to take care of it, many people have other thoughts. Don't do these little tricks next time." Cao Zong sighed and said, "After this incident, don't say that I don't dare to do it again. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince doesn't dare to do it either."

It is still necessary to be cautious. Fortunately, Huo Xian reminded them in time this time, and because Cao Zong and Liu Ju did not make any drastic actions, some traces could be quickly cleaned up.

Otherwise, Cao Zong would not be able to talk to Huo Xian so calmly in the Guanjun Marquis's mansion. If something really happened, he might be deposed and dismissed from his position by the emperor.

If the emperor really did this, no one would be surprised, because some of Liu Ju and Cao Zong's actions were indeed a little bit out of line, at least beyond Liu Che's acceptance.

Cao Zong said helplessly, "Your Majesty has always forbidden the Crown Prince to have any contact with the army. Although you and the general support the Crown Prince, you are more loyal to His Majesty. Naturally, the Crown Prince is anxious."

"I can't bring it up either. His Majesty will definitely not allow His Royal Highness the Crown Prince to have access to military power." Huo Xian could only say, "With the general and I here, what does His Royal Highness the Crown Prince have to worry about?"

Cao Zong glanced at Huo Shan and said so, but from Liu Ju's perspective, he might not see it that way.

In the final analysis, although Wei Qing and Huo Shan supported Liu Ju, they were still the emperor's subjects. And even if he trusted Wei Qing and Huo Shan, as the crown prince, he had to consider having confidants in his hands.

Liu Ju only has Tan Jie in his hand. He had previously wanted to return to Chang'an but was directly rejected by Huo Shan. He did not have anyone capable of leading troops. It would be strange if Liu Ju did not have any ideas.

"We are about to start preparing to attack the Xiongnu. For many things, stability is the most important thing." Huo Xian said, "Keep a close eye on the Southern Army. They will also be on the expedition."

Cao Zong nodded. If the imperial court went to fight the Huns, the Southern Army, as the elite, would definitely go on the expedition. There was no doubt about that.

However, Cao Zong would also feel a little regretful. He basically had no chance to participate in a battle of such a scale and such an important war. This was undoubtedly a great regret for a military marquis.

There was no other way. Even though Cao Zong had been in charge of the Southern Army for the past few years and was very familiar with it, he still had to stay in Chang'an. This was what he should do after the army went out to fight.

Even though the court seems to be lacking generals now, and even though Cao Zong is an important general, it cannot change the reality that he will never have the opportunity to go to the battlefield again.

Huo Xian understood this principle, and Cao Zong naturally understood it as well, so even when arranging the military commanders, Cao Zong was directly excluded.

"I think the Southern Army is pretty good. Although it is not as good as the Yulin and Qimen, it is not worse than the Northern Army." Cao Zong was still quite confident, "It's just that the soldiers nowadays are not as good as they were in previous years."

Having been in the army for a long time, Cao Zong could naturally see a lot of clues. Some things were not tacitly understood, but he was anxious about it, but there seemed to be no good solution.

Huo Xian also understood why Cao Zong said that. It was simply because of the continuous use of troops in recent years, some elite troops had suffered casualties.

Moreover, the quality of the soldiers is not as good as in previous years. Now the imperial court is getting poorer and poorer, and the treatment and weapons of the soldiers are not as good as before.

If he didn't even understand these situations, Cao Zong, the rear general, would be a failure. But even if he saw these problems, he obviously didn't have a better way to solve them.

Huo Xian also said helplessly, "It seems that this is the only way now. Fortunately, the soldiers can still kill the enemy, but the situation on the Xiongnu side is worse."

Hearing what Huo Xian said, Cao Zong nodded in agreement. The situation on the Han side was not very good, but the Xiongnu side was obviously even weaker.

Whether it was the previous defeats or the internal struggle for the Khanate, the Huns did not have much spare energy to recuperate and restore their combat effectiveness. This was not a situation that could be reversed overnight.

Even though the situation in the Han Dynasty was relatively bad, the basic training and support for the border troops and local county soldiers, let alone the elite soldiers, was still no problem.

Cao Zong looked at Huo Xian with envy and said, "Now is definitely a good time to fight the Xiongnu. It seems that only you can take the credit for such a great achievement."

The Han Dynasty fought the Huns with all their might. It was certainly not an easy war. Even if the Huns were at the end of their strength, a lean camel is still bigger than a horse, and they still have the strength to fight.

However, everyone was obviously very optimistic about Huo Xian's abilities and believed that he could seize the opportunity and completely defeat the Huns.

Huo Xian was not modest either. "It's time and fate. Since these things have fallen on my head, I should do my best to handle them!"

Seeing Huo Xian still as confident as ever, Cao Zong was even more envious. He couldn't be as carefree as Huo Xian, and even if he wanted to get rid of some of the constraints, he could only think about it. (End of this chapter)