Overlord's Road to Ancient Emperors

Chapter 355 The Civil War

Li Chengtao's death caused a series of chain reactions in the Northwest. First, the seven sons of the Li family killed each other to seize military power. Then, Li Chengtao's family friend Xu Shoujiang wanted to have an oriole in the name of teaching his friend's son. In the conflict between the two armies, no one will let the other go, and there is a tendency for a big battle.

Kou Xiao stood up at this time and refuted Xu Shoujiang's wolf ambition to take advantage of others' danger. He obviously wanted to support the Li family. It was discovered that on the territory of Xu's family, someone even saw Li Dalang running to General Xu's house angrily last night, and then he died. It was clear that the Xu family did it.

Two of the seven sons of the Li family had died in internal fighting before, and now the eldest son is also dead, and the remaining few have sympathies, but they don't want military power so much. They discussed several times and finally decided to seek asylum. Family friends must not be trusted anymore, and the other generals in the Northwest may not have the thoughts of General Xu Shou. It is estimated that if they seek the door, they are tantamount to seeking their own death.

So, several people found Kou Xiao, Kou Xiao is the commander of the Northwest, leading the whole army, it is reasonable and reasonable for them to rely on him, and they asked Kou Xiao to come forward to seek justice for their elder brother.

"As you all know, this general has only 5000 troops in his hands when he first arrived in the Northwest. Even if he wants to help you, he may not be able to defeat General Xu Shou, but you can rest assured that this general will take care of this matter to the end. Killing, killing meritorious persons, such acts must be severely punished."

Qilang, the youngest of the Li family, was also older than Kou Xiao, and now he stood timidly in front of him, fearing that if Kou Xiao ignored them, they would be fat sheep waiting to be slaughtered, and they would not live a day in peace.

Kou Xiao looked at their apprehension, smiled in his heart, and said solemnly: "However, this matter must be handed over to the government for investigation, and only after the Xu family's hands are sure to arrest people, in case they are wronged It’s not fair to Shoujiang Xu if he kills a good person.”

The Li family was panicked, thinking that Kou Xiao was looking for an excuse to delay the time, the death of the Li family's Dalang was all the work of the Xu family, what evidence is needed?

Kou Xiao didn't care about them, and asked people to report the case to the government. Wei Lan personally brought the yamen servants here. After hearing the reason of the case, he secretly took a look at Kou Xiao, and then took people to investigate the case.

There were witnesses and physical evidence in this case. Although General Xu Shou beat him to death and refused to admit it, Wei Lan finally convicted him, but the servants he brought could not fight against the Xu family's army at all, nor could he bring him to justice.

Wei Lan didn't care at all. Kou Xiao didn't ask him to investigate the case, and he didn't ask him to arrest people. Besides, he knew what Kou Xiao had in mind. When Li Chengtao died, it was like tearing apart the strong Northwest Army. With one opening, the Northwest Army themselves became chaotic first, so that Kou Xiao had a chance to defeat them one by one.

If he hadn't personally investigated the cause of Li Chengtao's death, he would have thought it was Kou Xiao's scheme.

"My lord, do we really want to announce Xu Shoujiang's murder?" the subordinate asked absently.

"What's the problem? The people of Li Family Dalang's death are all in their eyes, and rumors are spreading outside. Now that the murderer has been found, of course we must announce it, lest the people think that our government is not doing anything."

"But...General Xu doesn't admit it, and we have nothing to do with him."

"The witnesses and material evidence are all complete, so what if he doesn't admit it? He is a general of the Northwest Army, so the punishment should be handed over to General Kou. This step is enough for us."

After the notice was posted, it quickly spread throughout the Northwest, and the Li family and Kou Xiao had the credit for spreading the news.

Kou Xiao sat in front of the Li family again, and said with a strong attitude: "Since the government has finalized the case, let's send troops to arrest him!"

The brothers of the Li family were naturally very excited. General Xu Shou was not dead. They lived in fear every day, deeply afraid that they would be the next to die. These people don't have to be afraid of Xu Shoujiang for a whole day. Unfortunately, the Li family's army is now dispirited and has no leader.

Kou Xiao opened his mouth to arrest people, of course he didn't send the Kou family army, but called the Li family army, and took them to avenge Li family Dalang.

Kou Xiao has been in contact with soldiers since he was a child, and he knows the nature of soldiers at the bottom best. They don't have great ambitions or deep patriotism, but most of them are affectionate and righteous, and they are easy to be agitated by others. Kou Xiao He has an extraordinary temperament, standing in front of a group of soldiers, he is more attractive than any general of the Li family, and his every move outside the city during this period of time is also seen by the Li family army.

The middle-level generals think more than the bottom-level soldiers. This young coach is more straightforward and easy-going than they imagined, and he has a very deep background. If he surrenders to him, it is obviously more promising than following the sons of the Li family.

"Where does the Li family army go? This general will discuss with the Li family lords later, but right now, the more important thing than this is to avenge General Li Ting. The Xu family army is [-]. We don't want to fight the other party to the end, as long as Xu Shou is willing to return to justice." , this matter ends here, but everyone must show momentum, otherwise Xu Jiajun may not be willing to give up resistance."

Kou Xiao asked people to re-register the roster, broke up all the Li family troops and reorganized them into groups. Although the Li family brothers were dissatisfied, they had to rely on Kou Xiao for support for the time being, and dared not say anything.

In the end, [-] people were included in the register, and Kou Xiao was very satisfied. If Xu Jiajun could also be included in the bag, the loss would be [-], and he would own one-third of the Northwest Army. I have confidence.

General Xu Shou was very angry. He knew that he was being plotted against, but he was not sure whether it was Kou Xiao or the children of the Li family who did it. After Li Chengtao died, he really wanted to snatch Li Jiajun over. Very well, the children of the Li family are also close to him. I thought it would be easy to figure it out slowly, but I didn't expect that Li family Dalang would die suddenly, and he is still dead in his territory. Anyone who can prove it must be The other party framed it.

"General... It's not good, the Li family's army has all dispatched and surrounded our camp!" A soldier rushed to report.

"They dare! Who led the soldiers?"

"It's General Kou, and the word "Kou" is also on the flag."

"What a Kou Xiao! He's plotting against me, come here, and order the troops to go down and order the troops, so that this general will meet the favored General Kou for a while!"

There are a lot of rumors about Kou Xiao in the northwest. General Xu Shou also sent people to the capital to check a lot of news. He didn’t like Kou Xiao at all. This young man is very good, but he is too young to be in charge of the Northwest Army. But it is today with the back of the big tree.

Let him see how capable this Kou is, and let him know that there is no place in the northwest where he can run wild!

The civil war between the two armies is a huge military accident. If you are not careful, you will even attract foreign enemies. Kou Xiao also knows this, so it is impossible to fight to the end. He has to find a way to quickly defeat the fighting spirit of the Xu family army. End this dispute.

The best way is of course to capture the thief first, and capture the king first. As long as General Xu Shou dies, most of the Xu family's army will have to lay down their weapons and surrender.

General Xu Shou hurried to the barracks, and saw Li Jiajun all pointing their weapons at his men, clamoring for his life as if they had been in a firecracker, tsk tsk, I have never seen them treat Li Jia Dalang like this before value.

"General Kou, what is your purpose here?" Xu Shoujiang roared. He was tall and burly, holding a pair of hammers. At first glance, he was a powerful general.

Kou Xiao sat on the horseback and looked at him through the layers of soldiers. He pursed his lips and smiled, and said loudly: "General Xu, it is the law of the country to kill people and pay for their lives. Even if you are a meritorious minister, you cannot make up for your merits , please lay down your weapons and surrender yourself to justice.”

"What a joke! This general didn't kill Li Ting at all. General Kou's method of framing and killing with a knife is really brilliant! I don't know if the Li family's army has listened to you, but it's really a good skill!"

Kou Xiao didn't care about his provocation at all, "Whether General Xu killed someone is not up to the general, but the government found out, and the previous series of actions of General Xu didn't look like a good person. You want to snatch the military power of the Li family. Of course Li Jia Dalang refuses, it is normal for you to kill someone in anger."

"Heh, I'm not the only one who wants to seize the military power of the Li family. Don't tell me that General Kou himself didn't have such a mind? Then, you may have killed the Li family's Dalang."

Kou Xiao knew that General Xu Shou was a shrewd person, otherwise he would not be able to survive in the Northwest. Without his intervention, he would definitely achieve his goal very quickly. The brothers of the Li family are not enough for him to play with.

"That's a bit of a strong word to say. On General Xu's territory, I thought I didn't have the ability to kill people quietly. This is the first time for General Xu to visit the Xu family's barracks today. This place is really nice, wide and flat, and The rivers and mountains are bigger than the Li family's barracks." Kou Xiao said with emotion, but the eyes of the young generals of the Li family's army behind them fluctuated, and they scanned the Xu's barracks. In the past, the relationship between the two families was good and they communicated from time to time. This is the first time for everyone I found that this place is indeed better than my own barracks.

But I heard that General Xu Shou is generous to his subordinates, and he is willing to spend the money he got from greed on the soldiers, unlike Li Chengtao, who spends his days and drinks, but doesn't care much about the life and death of his subordinates.

Thinking about it this way, it seems good to follow General Xu, and many people's minds are moved. Should we pretend to be defeated later?

General Xu Shou's eyes flashed, and he laughed loudly: "The military camp of the last general is not bad. If General Kou wants it, the last general can give it up."

"Impossible, before this general came, the prince and His Majesty have both explained that they should treat the soldiers like their own children. Now that the imperial court has found out the problem of military expenditure, the military payment will definitely be less in the coming year. This general has no money to run such a large military camp."

Only the high-ranking generals knew about the imperial court's checking of military expenses. The soldiers at the bottom knew nothing about it, and they didn't even know how much money the generals above were greedy for.

Now hearing what Kou Xiao said, everyone’s eyes on Xu Shoujiang have changed. They have heard that the frontier troops in various places are going to cut military expenditures these days. They thought it had nothing to do with their personal interests. Now listening, something seems wrong , Is their military pay going to drop?

General Xu Shou is generous, but it is impossible for him to use his own money to subsidize the military salary. Over the years, the generals of the Northwest Army have enjoyed a lot of food and drink, and their appetites have long been raised. Now they have to live a hard life again, but few of them are willing. .

"As soon as General Kou came, the Northwest Army would face the day of drinking the northwest wind. You came at the right time, and as soon as you came, Brother Li died suddenly, and the nephew of the Li family also died. How could it be such a coincidence? ?”

Kou Xiao sighed. General Xu Shou was very eloquent and his thoughts changed quickly. He said loudly: "Now Dayan is at peace and the government is clear. How could His Majesty let the soldiers drink the northwest wind? General Xu is right. Your Majesty is disrespectful. The issue of military expenses has been found out. General Xu knows how much benefit he has obtained from his officers and men. The imperial court will not pursue what happened in the past, but from now on, the military expenses will have to be verified before allocating them down. Surely. It’s not as good as before, but the military salaries of the soldiers are as much as they should be, not a penny less, but I don’t know where Xu Shou will deduct the money to maintain his daily luxurious life without the extra military expenses in previous years.”

"The last general has never done anything wrong to the soldiers. The benefits are shared by everyone. He will never do anything to harm the soldiers below. General Kou does not need to sow discord here."

"This general believes in this. You created the Xu family army by yourself. You are today because of them. But the people in the northwest live a life of turmoil. Who caused this? Most of the soldiers present You are from the Northwest, and you have relatives at home, do you know how your family's life will become in the future?"

General Xu Shou shouted angrily: "General Kou, there is no need to scare people here. When did I, General Xu, endanger the people?"

"Oh? Is that so? Didn't General Xu know about the recruitment of civilian husbands?"

"That's an annual practice, and it's not just me, Xu Jiajun."

"You should be very clear about what the civilian husbands are here for. Maybe you are very lucky in private, because some people suffer for you, and some people die for you, but as soldiers, this is how you let your relatives and the people you protect Do you, yourself, enjoy the protection from above?" Kou Xiao glanced around with sharp eyes, he really looked down on these soldiers, if he had to choose, he would rather dismiss these soldiers and reorganize the Northwest Army, but time was running out.

"Is General Xu Shou a good general?" Kou Xiao asked Xu Jiajun loudly, "You must think that he is a good man, he is generous and considers you in everything, so he doesn't let you suffer, but is it really for you? As a soldier, have you even forgotten your vocation as a soldier? Dare I ask, if the Huns invade, will you still be able to hold the guns in your hands?"

General Xu Shou retorted: "Why can't you take it? Our Northwest Army is not a soft-footed shrimp in the south. General Kou is used to being an emperor in the south and wants to come to the northwest to show off his prestige. I have to ask this general if he agrees!"

Kou Xiao raised his hand and made a gesture, "Well, let me show how mighty the Northwest Army is! The imperial court can delay the Huns for one year, but it may not be able to delay for two years. Sooner or later, you will have to confront the Huns. , General Xu’s family members are all in the stable capital, where are your family members? Are you going to be conscripted to the front line to die, or are you waiting at home for the butcher knife to fall?”

It's about the family, no one can be calm, they might have thought before, it's a good thing for the general to treat them well, is it a good general if he treats them badly?

But after thinking about what General Kou said, it seems very reasonable. Many of them were forcibly enlisted in the army, and many of their family members were conscripted as civilian husbands. Some returned alive, and some died at the border. I really feel at ease. Do you sit back and enjoy the success of the military pay?

When the drums sounded, Li Jiajun moved first, and they had one idea at this time: to defeat Xu Jiajun, and show General Kou that they are not cowards, not mediocre people who only get paid but don't kill people!