Chapter 229: Preparing for war (2)

The next day, when the morning light first appeared and the first faint golden light spread on the towering city walls of Jincheng County, Zhang Huan and his wife and children appeared on the official road one mile away from Jincheng County under the escort of the eight hundred cavalry. At this time, the official road was already feeling the heat wave, and there seemed to be a kind of transparent material flowing in the air. Pei Ying, who had lived in the cool manor for a long time, could not adapt for a while. She opened the car curtain and frowned slightly and said to Zhang Huan: "Get rid of the disease, the weather this year is really abnormal. It's only mid-June, why is it like a big heat?"

"I heard from the old man that the abnormal weather was a manifestation of military disasters. Perhaps this proved the Battle of Hehuang." Zhang Huan slowed down his horse and walked with the carriage. He smiled and said, "Did you forget so quickly? The river water did not freeze that winter, but did it turn out to be the Uighur invasion?"

Pei Ying gave him a blank look, "Of course I haven't forgotten. When I was on a boat in Longxi County that winter, there was a scoundrel who forced me to take my boat, but he even fought with my subordinates with a knife."

Zhang Huan laughed, "Isn't the result of fighting that you have one more son in your knee?"

His voice was a little louder, and the few personal soldiers next to him were tense, but they were trying hard to hold back their smiles. Pei Ying blushed and glared at her husband fiercely, and pulled the curtain on the car. After a while, she pulled the curtain on the car again and smiled at Zhang Huan, "What if I meet someone who wants to take a boat in Longxi County this time?"

"Haha! Old Zhang had to marry another bride and become a groom again."

"You dare!" Pei Ying whispered fiercely.

Zhang Huan smiled at the sky, clamped his legs, and quickly left. Pei Ying looked at her husband's back and shook her head helplessly.

At this time, the team's speed suddenly slowed down. Zhang Huan rode his horse to the front and asked, "What's going on?"

Lin Jiuhan pointed to the fork in front of him, "A team of cavalry came from the east, and it seemed that someone was going to come and report."

Zhang Huan saw a team of cavalry coming from the east parked by the roadside, holding several carriages inside, and a cavalry was running towards this side. When he got closer, he suddenly recognized that it was the guards he sent to Kaiyang County to pick up Lin's wife. Is the wife in the carriage in front of him?

The guards rushed closer and bowed to Zhang Huan immediately and said, "Report to the governor, his subordinates have brought Mrs. Lin."

Zhang Huan nodded and turned around and ordered Lin Jiuhan, "Tell your wife, just tell her to bring the child over and meet my teacher's wife."

After saying that, he rode his horse and rushed to the carriage of his master's wife. At this time, Yang Yuniang had already got off the carriage and was looking at Zhang Huan sadly. Zhang Huan turned over and got off the horse, knelt on the ground, and shed tears and said, "I'm here to apologize to the master's wife!"

When Yang Yuniang received the news that Lin Delong and his son had died in battle, she seemed to have grown ten years old and her hair turned gray. She hurriedly helped Zhang Huan up, looked at him blankly for a long time, and suddenly hugged Zhang Huan's head and cried loudly, "Zhibalang, your master is dead, your elder brother is dead, Zhibing is dead, Zhibing is also dead in battle in Shu, all the men are dead, what should we do if we leave our orphans and widows!"

Zhang Huan's eyes also turned red. He hurriedly stood up and comforted her and said, "Don't worry, Master's wife, Brother Lin's son is my son, I will definitely take good care of you."

At this time, Lin Zhiyu's wife pulled her son forward and pressed him to the ground, "Hurry! Kowtow to uncle."

Zhang Huan sighed and picked up Lin Zhiyu's son. Seeing that he was thin and his eyebrows were quite like Lin Zhiyu, he asked him, "What's your name?"

The child looked back at his mother and said timidly: "My name is Lin Guoer."

"Then what do you want to do when you grow up?"

"I want to take the Jinshi exam."

Zhang Huan nodded, worthy of being Lin Zhiyu's son. He took out a jade pendant from his arms, hung it for Lin Guoer, and returned him to his master's wife and said, "I will invite Daru to teach this child, and he will definitely realize Brother Lin's long-cherished wish."

Yang Yuniang wiped away her tears, and her eyes showed gratitude. She glanced behind Zhang Huan, and asked with a forced smile: "Is she your wife?"

Zhang Huan turned around and saw Pei Ying walking towards here with her child in her arms, she nodded and smiled, "Yes! The one she was holding is my son, named Zhang Qi."

When Pei Ying approached, Zhang Huan introduced to her: "Ying'er, this is my master's wife."

Pei Ying bowed to the courtesy, bowed her son's hands and said with a smile: "Greetings to my grandmother!"

Yang Yuniang liked it, so she hurriedly carried Zhang Qi over and pointed his nose with love. Pei Ying smiled and said, "So I just took a carriage with my teacher's wife and talked about family matters, and then went to my mansion. Pingping was there too!"

Everyone got on the carriage, and the two teams joined forces to walk into the city together. When the soldiers guarding the city saw the governor return to the city, they quickly lined up to salute. As soon as Zhang Huan walked into the city gate, he saw a woman in red riding a horse from afar. It was Lin Pingping. In the Battle of Wuwei, she was also injured by arrows. In addition, she was sad about the death of her father and brother, and her injuries worsened. Cui Ning forced her to stay in the mansion to recuperate. Now that the injury has been healed, she heard that her mother has arrived, so she came to greet her.

When the mother and daughter met, they couldn't help but hug each other and cried bitterly. Zhang Huan stood aside from a distance. At this time, Pei Ying glanced at Zhang Huan and gave her son to the wet nurse. She quietly walked to him and smiled: "Along the way, your master's wife told me a lot about your past. I can hear that Pingping liked you very much since she was a child. Now that others' fathers and brothers have died for you, should you give me an explanation?"

Zhang Huan shook her head, "I have regarded Pingping as my sister since I was a child and I don't have that kind of feelings for her."

"Fellowship?" Pei Ying sneered, "Then do you have feelings for Yang Chunshui? But after just seeing him, he kept it in his heart. Your childhood sweetheart has been deeply in love with you and has refused to marry you, but you don't care at all."

"Let's talk about it later!" Zhang Huan knew his wife's thoughts, so he interrupted Pei Ying's words, "I don't have this intention now, let's say that he just lost his father."

At this time, Lin Pingping saw Zhang Huan, and she walked over quickly and smiled at Pei Ying, "Is it good to lend it to your husband?"

Pei Ying pursed her lips and smiled, "If you want it, I will give him to you."

Lin Pingping smiled and pinched Pei Ying, then pulled Zhang Huan aside. Her smile disappeared in an instant, and said coldly with a gloomy face: "I'll ask you something, can your personal soldiers kill the people at will?"

Zhang Huan gently broke free from her hand and said lightly: "I have always been strict in military discipline. Even if my personal soldiers kill people, there must be a reason."

"Then come with me!" Lin Pingping took out a famous sting and stuffed it to him, then turned over and ran towards the west of the city.

Zhang Huan looked at the famous thorn in his hand. This was his own famous thorn. The title on it was the governor of Liangzhou. This should be his famous thorn when he was in Wuwei. ‘What’s going on?’ Zhang Huan pondered for a moment, then said to Pei Ying: “Take your master’s wife back first, I’ll go and see what happened?”

He gave Lin Jiuhan a wink, and Lin Jiuhan immediately led a hundred people to gallop west with Zhang Huan.

"Governor, there!" Lin Jiuhan pointed to a dilapidated City God Temple, and Lin Pingping flashed and entered the temple. Zhang Huan was about to enter the temple, but Lin Jiuhan stopped him, "Governor, let me check it first."

"No, you won't have that kind of heart." Zhang Huan said, and then went straight into the temple. There were no doors and windows in the temple, which was very dilapidated. Several gables had collapsed. It could be seen that this was an abandoned temple.

Turning into the hall, I saw Pingping squatting on the ground, carefully changing the medicine for an injured person. There was also a young woman next to her with a pretty face. Zhang Huan vaguely felt that she had seen her somewhere?

The woman was eating the bread brought by Pingping. Suddenly, she saw a large group of soldiers pouring in. She was so scared that she was so beautiful that she hid behind Lin Pingping. Zhang Huan looked at the person lying on the ground again. She was an old man in his fifties, with his eyes closed tightly, probably because of excessive blood loss and his face was very sallow.

Zhang Huan also felt that he looked very familiar. When he thought about it again, he suddenly remembered that this was the farmer who built a water truck in Tianbao County? He had given him a famous sting.

"What's going on?" Zhang Huan walked up to him and asked in a deep voice.

"Xiao Cui, this is the Governor Zhang you are looking for. You tell him what happened?" Lin Pingping stood up and went to the side.

The woman recognized Zhang Huan and she hurriedly stepped forward and knelt down, "The Governor told us that if there is an official bullying us, we can complain to you. We came yesterday, but my father was injured by the soldiers guarding the gate. Thanks to Sister Pingping who saved us."

She had clear thoughts and spoke very cleverly. She spoke in a few words and looked at everyone in each other's face and her face changed drastically.

"Wait a minute." Zhang Huan interrupted her in surprise, "Are you talking about being slashed by the soldiers guarding the gate in front of our mansion?"

"It's not in front of the governor's mansion. They told me and my father that the governor had gone to Beijing. Not long after we left the mansion, two masked men chased after him. Without saying a word, they raised their swords and slashed them. Dad was stabbed twice by them. Dad tried his best to pull me away. They saw that there were too many people on the road, so they didn't chase him. Later, Dad couldn't support him and fell down, and happened to meet Sister Pingping."

His personal soldiers actually coaxed them to Beijing. Zhang Huan vaguely understood something, and he asked again: "Since they are masked, how do you know they are the gatekeepers?"

"My father used a shoulder pole to resist them twice. One of them had a face towel falling off, and he was the soldiers guarding the gate."

Zhang Huan kept his hands behind his back and said nothing. After a while, he suddenly asked coldly: "Who is the official you are going to sue?"

The woman kowtowed and said hatefully: "The official we want to sue is the officer who bullies our refugees in Hexi. He uses moldy rice for us to eat, so we can all bear it. But when he likes the beautiful woman, he forces others to stay with him, otherwise he will be driven out. He likes me, and his father will take me out and come to complain to the governor."

"Do you know what this officer is called?" Zhang Huan asked with a gloomy face.

The woman shook her head, "I don't know what his name is, but his subordinates all call him General Chen."

"Chen Ping!" Lin Jiuhan blurted out next to him. Chen Ping was ordered by Zhang Huan and was fully responsible for resettling Hexi refugees. No wonder those personal soldiers wanted to kill the father and daughter. Chen Ping was their head before.

"Go and bring me all the personal soldiers who were on duty in front of the mansion yesterday." Zhang Huan was finally angry, his face was extremely hard to see.

After a moment, more than 20 personal soldiers were brought in. When they saw the scene in the hall, two of them fell to the ground with a trembling body.

"Very good! I will confess myself without me interrogating it." Zhang Huan walked over slowly and said with a cold face: "You two are veterans who have followed me from Taiyuan. I regard you as my confidants and trust you completely. I didn't expect you to ruin my reputation behind your back."

The two men gradually stopped trembling. They kowtowed a few times and said, "We are sorry to the governor, and we are allowed to deal with the military law."

"What should I do about it? Let's talk about it later. Let me ask you first, why do you want to kill this father and daughter?"

After hesitating for a long time, one of them sighed, "They want to sue Chen Guzheng, we are confused for a moment!"

Zhang Huan sneered, "I can't tell you are very loyal, come here!"

Five or six big men immediately stood up next to them, Zhang Huan pointed at the two of them, "Each of them beat a hundred military sticks and rushed to Hehuang to raise horses."

"Thank you, Governor!" The two kowtowed to Zhang Huan in tears and followed the executioner.

Lin Pingping next to him knew that Zhang Huan was spared by them. When she saw Zhang Huan angry, she didn't dare to say anything. She just saw how he dealt with the culprit. At this time, Zhang Huan saw that the old man had woken up, so he squatted down and asked him, "Old man, how many people escaped from Tianbao County?"

The old man shook his head and said in a low voice: "No one escaped. I took my daughter to Changsong County for a blind date, so I escaped. My son was also killed in battle."

Zhang Huan felt sad. He stood up and pointed at the father and daughter and said to the personal soldiers: "Take them down and heal them well, and pay them according to the standards of the military family, and then set aside ten acres of land from my name to them."

Several personal soldiers agreed and carried the old man out. Zhang Huan glanced at Lin Pingping, "You go with them! How can I deal with my subordinates is a military matter, don't prick your ears and listen."

Seeing that he was thinking, Lin Pingping couldn't help but blush and followed their father and daughter embarrassedly. Lin Jiuhan was about to speak, but Zhang Huan waved his hand to stop him. He quickly walked to a tattered window on the other end and whispered: "Don't eavesdrop, it won't disappoint you, go!"

I heard a 'smash!' sound outside, and then there was a sound of footsteps running away.

Zhang Huan shook his head and returned to the hall. He took out his gold medal and handed it to Lin Jiuhan and said, "Take five hundred people to Changle County quickly. Don't alert the snake first. After the investigation is clear, you can catch him for me!"

Lin Jiuhan led the order and took a few people to order the troops. Zhang Huan was in a heavy mood and paced back and forth in the hall with his hands behind his back. If it weren't for this accidental incident today, he wouldn't have believed that Chen Ping's smart and capable subordinate would have done such a thing. Is it really hard to know people? It seems that sometimes relying on trust alone is far from enough.

He did not return to the mansion, but went directly to the Jiedushi Headquarters. The officials of the Headquarters had already received the news that Zhang Huan had returned to the city and had already cleaned up the headquarters.

Zhang Huan strode through the throne, and from time to time, officials walked out of the official room to bow to him, "The governor is back!"

"See the Governor!"

Zhang Huan nodded and greeted him. He quickly returned to his room. Meng Jiao had arrived first and was sorting out the documents piled up on the table. Seeing Zhang Huan come in, he hurriedly stepped forward to salute. Zhang Huan waved his hand and said, "Shere you to sort out later, and invite Mr. Du for me first."

After a moment, Du Mei hurried over and smiled at Zhang Huanshi from afar, "The Governor is finally back."

While asking Du Mei to sit down, Zhang Huan smiled bitterly and said, "If I had known that I would encounter this today, it would be better not to come back."

Seeing that Zhang Huan was not in a good mood, Du Mei asked in surprise: "What happened to the governor today?"

Zhang Huan told Du Mei about Chen Ping, and finally sighed, "I always thought that corruption and stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen stolen

Du Mei was silent for a moment and advised him: "The governor only heard that Chen Ping had eaten moldy food for the refugees in Hexi, but this did not mean that he was full of his personal pockets. Perhaps he had any hidden thoughts, or perhaps his subordinates did it without authorization, and he didn't know that as forcing good women to stay with him, such things will often be deliberately expanded. Maybe he is indeed a little unconventional, but no matter what, the governor should not listen to one side, and do not take preconceptions. It is not too late to convict after the investigation is concluded."

Zhang Huan nodded, "Maybe you make sense, because I love deeply and hate deeply, but what makes me even more angry is that this kind of thing was learned from accidental events. If my two personal soldiers were not mentally irritated and went to kill the father and daughter who complained, they might have to bear it, and then this matter would never be revealed."

Zhang Huan walked to the window with his hands behind his back and said worriedly: "What I am worried about now is that I don't know how many major cases there are. Maybe there is not yet, but what about the future? Will you kill someone when it happens? So there must be some way to prevent them."

Du Mei finally understood Zhang Huan's intention. He went around such a big circle and actually wanted to establish a supervision system. So was his intention to summon himself?

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Sure enough, Zhang Huan looked up at the sky and said slowly: "I originally planned to follow the example of Emperor Zetian to set up the four lords, but this would cause false accusations to cause everyone in Longyou officials to be in danger. If they are used, they should not be suspicious. So after thinking about it, I should still focus on prevention."
Chapter completed!