Fu Song

Chapter 248

Xiao Ding respected Ma Xing very much.

In his opinion, Ma Xing is one of the few high officials in the imperial court who are selfless, who are dedicated to the country and do not care about reputation.

Jane likes such a character very much.

Xiao Ding once thought that he was the same person.

When he was in Hebei, this is what he demanded of himself.

But after going through a lot of things, Xiao Ding knew how difficult it is to be such a person.

I can't do it myself.

Thinking about how many years I have been in the Northwest, I have made great achievements, from a small fifth-rank commander to a third-rank western marching chief. In fact, Ma Xing really contributed a lot.

When I first arrived at Hengshan Shentangbao, I had nothing but more than [-] soldiers and [-] family members. It was with Ma Xing's support that I stood firm.

Later, with the help of his second brother, he won the Hengshan Party Project, and his strength gradually grew, but the first big thing he did made Ma Xing fall into embarrassment.

The sneak attack on Yanzhou allowed Xiao Ding to get rid of his dependence on Shaanxi Road, but it really challenged Ma Xing's authority.

Because of this sneak attack, the war between Li Xuding's difficult army and the imperial court broke out in advance.

As a result, Suibei suffered a great disaster.

And these are exactly in the calculation between the second brother and himself.

At this time, Ma Xing could only rely on his own soldiers to make a dangerous move, directly attack Xingqing Mansion, and capture the king first.

Of course, there is another possibility, that is, under Ma Xing's rage, he will deprive Xiao Ding of his military command right regardless.But in this way, the battle with Li Xu will inevitably form a long-term confrontation.

This is not in Xiao Ding's interest.

Of course, it is not in the interests of Shaanxi Road either.

When they decided on this strategy, the Xiao Ding brothers bet that Ma Xing would put Shaanxi Road's state affairs first, and would not pick up his face that fell on the ground.

If you change officials, I'm afraid this matter will not work.

But even if Ma Xing held his nose, he supported Xiao Ding, and even sent the Zhenrong Army to help when the troops on the Shaanxi Road were stretched.

The result looks like a win-win.

In Ma Xing's plan, it took several years to clean up Li Xu's plan, and it was completed in another year. The troubles in the northwest were no longer there.

As the appeasement envoy of Shaanxi Road, Ma Xing is naturally famous all over the world, so he has the qualifications to enter the two governments.

Of course, the one who benefited the most was Xiao Ding, a twenty-four or five-year-old general who had never existed in the history of the Song Dynasty.Moreover, his power as the general manager of the Western Army is even more amazing.

Because Xiao Ding has no civil servants.

Under Xiao Ding's command, most of them are Tubo people, either Dangxiang people, Tubo people, or Huihe people.And the territory he expanded, in the eyes of most officials in the court, is a tasteless, optional place.There are even a few people who believe that if these places are really included in the territory of the Song Dynasty, they will definitely become a burden and drag on the country.

Those officials who claim to know the affairs of the world without leaving their homes have never been to these places, so how do they know how fertile and beautiful these places are?

Xiao Ding's power was established.

Ma Xing knew it.

So before he left, he summoned Xiao Ding to meet with the pacifier Yamen who returned to Yan'an Mansion.

Of course it won’t be a Hongmen banquet. If he can do it, Ma Xing is not afraid of anything. The key is that Ma Xing knows that if he really wants to do it, the northwest will be corrupted immediately, and the chaos will be a disaster. Super Li Xu era.

Because the party item at this time is no longer a divided party item.

At this time, Qingtang is no longer a place where each other is in a daze.

And the only person who can suppress and unify these forces is Xiao Ding.

He wanted to have a good talk with Xiao Ding.

He can only have a good talk with Xiao Ding.

Moreover, he also believed that Xiao Ding was not Li Xu.

So, everything is redeemable.

Now he regards Xiao Ding as someone who can talk to him on an equal footing.

Ma Xing is a capable official and a pragmatic one. In order to achieve his goals, he is actually not afraid to violate some rules, just like those he has done.

He naturally also knew that if he wanted to put a bridle on Xiao Ding now, he would have to pay the same price.

But what kind of price does Xiao Ding need to be satisfied?
Therefore, he needs to meet Xiao Ding and have a good discussion.

He was afraid that Xiao Ding would not dare to come.

After all, the civil servants of the Song Dynasty had a precedent of trapping and killing generals, and not long ago, Cui Ang did this again in Hebei.

So Ma Xing sent his son to Xingqing Mansion to deliver a message.

His intention was very straightforward, Xingqing Mansion could hold his son there as a hostage until Xiao Ding returned safely.

Ma Xing was not sure whether Xiao Ding would come.

After Cui Ang did such abominable things in Hebei, it is normal for the generals who commanded troops outside independently to suspect civil servants like them.

And there are too many excuses and means to reject yourself.

But what Ma Xing didn't expect was that Xiao Ding immediately agreed to come back.

This made Ma Xingda unexpectedly, and at the same time he was greatly relieved.

Xiao Ding is indeed a loyal person who puts state affairs first.

Even if there is some selfishness, it is human nature.

Even if you are yourself, how can you always be selfless?

If Xiao Ding knew what Ma Xing was thinking now, he would definitely not agree.At least Xiao Ding thinks that he is definitely not a loyal minister now. If he ever had such an idea, it was in Hebei, when he only brought [-] people with him. At that time, there were not so many Miscellaneous thoughts, and, thinking about these things at that time, it seemed a little ridiculous.

But things are different now after all.

I have to think.

When did the change in yourself begin?
Xiao Ding couldn't tell clearly, but what he was sure of was that his second younger brother played a decisive role in this process of change.

Among the letters that Xiao Ding burned, the ideas, creeds, rules, etc. that Xiao Cheng said had a great influence on me. I never thought about these things before, but slowly, the more I thought about them, the more I thought about them. too much.

When I really grasped the strength, I couldn't help but turn my thoughts into reality little by little.

Standing on the Shentang Fort, looking at the rushing river and the busy wharf above the river, Xiao Ding smiled and said to Ma Yun beside him: "Brother Ma, three years ago, there was still a barren place, but now You see, docks, boats, warehouses, and roads have all been built. Looking up, that large flat land has tens of thousands of acres of fertile land, all of which are fertile land alluvial from the river! Last year, this piece of land was harvested. How much wheat did you get?"

The one who answered Xiao Ding was Li Yi, the current guard of Shentangbao.The young personal guard who once entered the capital with Xiao Ding and defeated a hundred members of the Fourth Army in Shanglin Garden, has become a deputy commander after three years, commanding nearly [-] people to station in the military stronghold of Shentangbao.

"Return to the manager!" Li Yi bowed and said, "This piece of land has a total of [-] mu. Last year, the yield of wheat per mu was [-] catties. We harvested more than [-] million catties of wheat. This year's production will increase. Three-year-olds , three years of ripening, next year this land will become a real ripening land."

Xiao Ding said with a smile: "You have done a good job here. If the yield per mu can increase by [-] catties this year, I will promote you to be in charge."

The current military significance of Shentang Fort is significantly reduced. Li Yi is stationed here. Apart from guarding the pier, he spends more time taking care of these military settlements.

Most of the [-] people under him are part-time farmers.The real standing army is only a few hundred, together with some hired civilians, they constitute the main residents of Shentangbao.

But the family members of Guang Ruijun who moved here at the beginning have left long ago.

As long as the more than [-] Guangrui troops who came all the way from Hebei are not dead, they are now in the middle of the Western Army.Even those who quit the army due to injuries still served in various government offices and military states under the jurisdiction of the General Manager's Mansion.The family members of these people, in the Xingqing Mansion that Xiao Ding had established, all moved to the Xingqing Mansion.

Most of the best land and manors outside Xingqing Mansion belong to these people.

Just like Li Yi, when he came to the Northwest, he was still an ordinary soldier. In less than three years, he became the deputy commander. The speed of his promotion is jaw-dropping. Of course, this also shows Xiao Ding's power from another aspect. The rise is fast.

And these people are also the most basic force for Xiao Ding to control the entire Western Army.

"Brother Ma, have you seen the pier and those boats?" Xiao Ding asked Ma Yun with a smile, pointing at the white sails in the distance.

"Of course I did."

"The Qingyang River and the Dasha River are merged into one here, all the way down, but finally they belong to the Daqing River!" Xiao Ding said.

Ma Yun was slightly stunned: "Daqing River? Hebei?"

Xiao Ding nodded: "That's right. That's why I built warehouses, piers, shipyards, etc. here in Shentangbao. Next, I need to recruit sailors and build a navy. It’s still grain and grass, and they can go along the river, which is much more convenient than the land route.”

Ma Yun looked at the other party sideways, with a sharp face wrapped in a thick beard, and the determination revealed in his eyes was obvious.

He really can't understand each other.

This time I went to Xingqing Mansion by myself, and what I saw and heard along the way, the north of Hengshan was indeed as my father worried about, only knowing about Xiao Ding but not about the imperial court, and this kind of atmosphere was even worse among the army and the government.

For more than a year, it is not that my father, who is the appeasement envoy of Shaanxi Road, has not sent officials here, but these officials basically did not stay long, so they all ran back, and some would rather resign than make mistakes. Work on those places.

From this point of view, Xiao Ding's arrogance is really not comparable to that of ordinary people.

When he arrived at Xingqing Mansion, he was even more worried when he saw the wolves and tigers.

Li Xu is dead, but to Guochao, it seems that he killed the hungry wolf, but fed the tiger!

He didn't expect Xiao Ding to agree to go to Yan'an mansion so happily.

It didn't even occur to him that he wasn't taken hostage at all.

He is ready.

But Xiao Ding came back with him.

This man is really proud.

But at this moment, he saw something else in this person.

When so many complicated things came together on one person, Ma Yun felt that he didn't understand the guy in front of him at all.

Shouts and cheers came from the school ground in the distance, Ma Yun turned around, and saw those iron kites that came with Xiao Ding performing martial arts on the school ground.

The wooden stakes were planted on the ground one by one, and the knights brandished their sabers one by one, galloping their horses. During the gallop, they swung their knives and struck, and many wooden stakes were cut off one by one.

Some knights are honest and clean, while others are constantly playing various tricks on their horses, showing their extremely superb horse skills.

At least Ma Yun has never seen such powerful equestrianism in Yan'an Mansion. Those people really achieved the unity of man and horse.And this time with them, what opened Jack Ma's eyes was that these people can run like flying even on the mountain road.

Of course, what impressed Ma Yunying the most was Xiao Ding's [-] personal soldiers, [-] armored cavalry, and [-] heavy infantry.

At that time on the school grounds, when he saw armored cavalry and heavy infantry drills, Ma Yun really felt out of breath.Seeing these two soldiers and horses, and then seeing the iron kite, Jack Ma finally understood how Xia Yao and Mu Zhan collapsed.

In cavalry combat, if there is no elite that can compete with these soldiers and horses, it is impossible to compete with them.

This time, those who followed Xiao Ding were of course not heavy armored cavalry, but ordinary iron kites, iron kites with a thousand men.

Yes, Xiao Ding will take these thousand people to Yan'an Mansion.

Ma Yun repeatedly thought about the several armies in Yan'an Mansion and the surrounding areas, none of them could compete with this cavalry.

Maybe it's Li Du's personal soldiers who can resist for a while?
He finally figured out why his father wanted to recruit Li Du.

Even Li Du had committed numerous crimes in Suide.

Even Li Dan and Wang Jun hated Li Du so much.

But neither Li Dan nor Wang Jun could contain Xiao Ding, let alone Wang Jun was Xiao Ding's former subordinate?For this, my father planned to take Wang Jun to Hebei.

"I have been to this Shentangbao before, but it was desolate at that time. Compared with now, it really looks like two places!" Standing on the city wall, looking at the surrounding fertile fields, villages, docks, and shops, Ma Yun said with emotion .The current Shentangbao's military role has been gradually weakened, but it has become an important commodity distribution center connecting the north of Hengshan and Shaanxi Road. "The manager is really turning stone into gold. I heard from my father that when the manager was in Tianmen Village, Hebei, the surrounding people also benefited from it!"

"The bachelor's prize!" Xiao Ding said with a smile: "Actually, when I did these things, how could I have so many ideas? I just wanted to make the soldiers eat better, make the armor of the soldiers stronger, and make the swords and guns stronger. The sharper it is, the greater the chances of victory, or worse, the greater the chances of surviving in confrontation with the enemy."

"Don't ask about the result, just focus on the process, but in the end it produced fruitful results. The manager has great wisdom!" Ma Yun said sincerely.

Xiao Ding laughed loudly: "There are not so many talkers, for us soldiers, it is just two words, to survive. If we live, the enemy will die, and if the enemy dies, we will naturally win. "

(End of this chapter)