"Hmm." Gao Xing responded softly, and then asked: "What's going on with Gao Shaoyi recently?" These days, Gao Xing has been paying attention to the movements of the Northern Zhou Dynasty and the Turks, and has not paid much attention to Gao Shaoyi.
"Reporting to the young prince, Gao Shaoyi has been recruiting troops aggressively these days. Now he has nearly 200,000 men available under his command. Among them, the 50,000 troops commanded by Gao Baoning can be described as elite, and Gao Shaoyi is currently in Yingzhou."
"He actually came to Yingzhou, is he worried that the emperor will send troops to conquer him, or is he trying to deal with me." Gao Xing frowned slightly, pondered for a moment and then continued: "I have ordered to block trade with Gao Shaoyi. Where is Gao Shaoyi? With so much financial resources coming to support the army, could it be that he is levying excessive taxes and oppressing the people again?"
"The prince guessed wrong this time." Zhang Shunzhi shook his head and said: "Gao Shaoyi also knew his situation, so he has been particularly restrained in the past few months. Not only was he diligent in official matters, but he was also much gentler to the people under his rule. Otherwise, His situation will probably be even more difficult. Although Yingzhou and other places are not as wealthy as Shandong and Jiangsu, there are not a few wealthy families here. The money and food Gao Shaoyi provides for the army comes from wealthy merchants who have always had a rift with him. "
"That's it." He nodded happily, then shook his head and said softly: "Although Gao Shaoyi's move can relieve his urgent need, it will only drink poison to quench his thirst and will not help. The people are ignorant and cowardly. Even if they resist, they can be suppressed as long as they react in time. Those merchants But the wealthy families don't seem to be in trouble, and Gao Shaoyi won't end up well if they are pushed into a hurry."
Gao Shaoyi's current situation is really embarrassing. Although he has 200,000 soldiers and horses under his command, he dare not take the initiative to provoke Gao Changgong. Not to mention that Gao Changgong has an unparalleled reputation and is supported by all people. Gao Shaoyi cannot take advantage of justice. , and more importantly, Gao Changgong has many elite soldiers and generals. Gao Shaoyi has no confidence that he can defeat him head-on.
Therefore, Gao Shaoyi could only work hard to train soldiers, accumulate strength, and wait for opportunities. However, this process was extremely difficult. In order to stabilize the morale of the military, Gao Shaoyi did not dare to impose too harsh taxes. Moreover, in recent years, natural and man-made disasters have left little civilians. , it can only be a drop in the bucket, and only the family fortunes of those rich and noble families can play some role.
Although Gao Shaoyi's butcher knife only targets those families who have been at odds with him in the past, his actions still make everyone under his rule jittery and frightened. No one knows how long and how long the confrontation between Gao Shaoyi and Gao Changgong will last. When one day around him After all the "enemies" are eliminated, will Gao Shaoyi's butcher knife still hesitate to treat his "friends"? No one knows.
"The reason why those nobles tolerated it must be on the sidelines. If we cannot resist the Turks' attack, they will probably immediately and firmly support Gao Shaoyi. If the Turks fail, Gao Shaoyi will be in disaster."
Gao Xing said with a faint sneer at the corner of his mouth: "No, we can't let Gao Shaoyi continue to act like this, otherwise when Bo Khan's troops enter Daqi, that old boy will most likely stab him in the back, which will be fatal."
Originally, Gao Shaoyi was happy to not move because he hoped to use his hand to find out all the people with ulterior motives in the court, but the plan could not keep up with the changes. Now the eradication of Gao Shaoyi must be put on the agenda.
Gao Xing is confident but not arrogant. Although Gao Shaoyi's army of 200,000 is not elite, it is still 200,000 people. Even 200,000 ants and bees are enough to make you panic for a while, let alone people. Once the time is right, The effect it can exert is extremely huge.
Zhang Shunzhi asked seriously: "What are the instructions from the young prince?"
"This matter needs to be planned. Don't rush it." Gaoxing squinted his eyes and said calmly. As soon as he finished speaking, his brows suddenly raised slightly and he whispered: "We have to wait for someone to arrive."
With that said, Gao Gao took out the telescope from his waist and put it in front of his eyes to look in the direction of Yingzhou. Over the past few years, the production and polishing skills of glass have improved several levels, and the distance that this telescope can observe is also different.
After a while, Gao Xing put down the telescope and smiled at Zhang Shunzhi and said: "After changing clothes, let's go down and wait for them." After saying that, Gao Xing quickly took off his clothes, shoes and socks, and then put on the Hu clothes and Hu clothes given by Zhang Shunzhi. boots,
After changing his clothes, Gao Xing took out the tools he carried with him and began to disguise himself. His movements were very fast, like a butterfly wearing flowers, which was dazzling.
When Gao Gao stopped what he was doing, his whole appearance suddenly changed, from the elegant and suave young man to a dark-faced, bearded Khitan man. His eyes flashed fiercely, and he looked very He had a fierce look, and he had a strong smell of beef and sheep. If he hadn't known that the person in front of him was happy, Zhang Shunzhi would have almost thought that he was a brave and fierce prairie man.
Zhang Shunzhi was not idle when he was happy to disguise himself;?The clothes on his body were changed into Hu clothes, and he pretended to be a Khitan, but he only had the same shape but no happy charm.
"Let's go."
After packing up, Gao Xing got on his horse and headed down the slope quickly. This time Gao Xing did not ride the bloody horse, but a Khitan war horse. There was no high bridge saddle or double stirrups, but Gao Gao's whole body seemed to be on the back of a horse, extremely stable. Not only that, Gao Gao was riding the horse, and he was drinking lowly from time to time. He was speaking in Khitan, and his voice also revealed the roughness and hoarseness of the grassland. ,
When Zhang Shunzhi and Gao Xing descended the slope together, a group of people finally appeared in their field of vision. Judging from the flag, it should be a caravan, and it was not small.
After a short time, the caravan arrived at the slope. Sure enough, the caravan was very large, with about forty carriages and more than three hundred people. There were no less than two hundred guards alone, and they all walked vigorously. With a calm aura, they are obviously not mediocre people.
The two Gao Xing saw the caravan, and the people in the caravan naturally also saw the two Gao Xing. There were still a hundred meters away from the two Gao Xing, and the caravan stopped moving forward. A young man in fine clothes rode out from the crowd, He stopped thirty meters away in front of Gao Gao and the others, clasped his fists and said loudly: "Two friends, we are a caravan from Daqi, going to Khitan for business. I hope we will not disturb these two friends."
Seeing that Gao Xing and the two were wearing Khitan clothes, it seemed that the young man was also speaking Khitan. He had a sincere look on his face and goodwill in his tone, but there was a bright light in his half-closed eyes. Intentionally or unintentionally, his right hand was pressed against the hilt of the sword hanging by the saddle.
"Han people, why do you come to our grassland, especially Han businessmen, who are extremely treacherous and only know how to defraud our people." Gao Xing looked at the young man with an unkind expression and shouted loudly: "Tell me, are you spies of the Han people? What are your intentions in going to the grassland?"
The young man frowned, stroked his chest and leaned forward, and said sincerely: "Friend, I think you misunderstood. We are serious businessmen and have no ill intentions towards you. The Khitan Dahe Prince Chucai and I are still friends."
Hearing this, he was so happy and furious that he suddenly pulled out the crook from his waist, pointed the tip of the knife directly at the young man in front of him, and scolded: "Asshole, you dare to say that you are friends with my king, and you don't even know what a lowly person you are. identity."
The young man looked surprised and said happily: "Hey, Prince Dahe Chucai is now the king of Khitan."
"Of course." Gao Xing raised his head arrogantly, and then angrily said: "You really have an unknown origin. You don't even know about this. You dare to say that you are the king's friend. Please tell me your purpose quickly, otherwise I will definitely kill you." Take him back to your clan and torture him severely."
"Wait a minute." The young man shouted hurriedly: "I have more than a month to come to Khitan, so it's not surprising that I don't know about this. Look, I have the golden arrow here given to me by King Dahe." After saying that, the young man said to himself He took out a short arrow from his arms, all golden in color, shining brightly under the scorching sun.
Seeing the golden arrow, his eyes suddenly froze with joy. Although they were not close together, with his eyesight, he still saw a mark unique to the Da He family on the golden arrow, and he couldn't help but feel slightly relieved.
"How come you have my clan's token in your hand? You are really not a spy." Gao Xing frowned and asked doubtfully,
"It's absolutely true." The young man nodded heavily and said, "The goods we transported this time are exactly what King Dahe wanted."
He happily asked: "What's your name?"
"Zhiwen."
"It was Mr. Wang Yan who was in contact with my king before. Why don't I see him now?" As he said this, he happily stretched his neck and looked behind the young man.
"My boss is resting in the back." The young man said, taking the golden arrow back into his arms, looking at the two happy people carefully and saying: "Who are you? King Yamato sent you here, do you have any tokens to prove it?"
"You dare to doubt us," Gao Xing immediately glared with a fierce look on his face: "As long as we meet Mr. Wang Yan, he will naturally know us. Come on, take us there."
The young man frowned, looked around again, and then said after making sure there was no ambush: "Just follow me. I'm warning you, it's best not to play tricks, otherwise don't blame me for being rude."
"Huh." Gao Xing snorted coldly, urging the war horse to follow the young man in the direction of the caravan.
When the three of them arrived in front of the caravan, they saw a young man wearing a coarse gray shirt walking out.
"My boss, they claim to be the messengers of Dahe Chucai. Let's see if they are true or not. If they are traitors, I will capture them immediately." The young man said while cupping his hands to the young man in gray, and then suddenly lifted the belt from his waist. Draw out a third of the sword,
"The colorful clouds are shining through the window, and there is a man outside the door." Looking at the young man in gray, he slightly curled his mouth in happiness and said:?But he said it in Chinese with a weird accent,
Everyone could hear the Yunshan fog cover. Only the young people of the gray clothes were slightly shocked, and the eyes flashed, but they were fleeting.