Of course, Yang Zhen knew that what Yang Guozhu said was right. Going north out of the Great Wall was indeed a dangerous situation every step of the way.

The Duolun tribe outside Zhangjiakou is a small tribe, but Yang Zhen is not worried.

What he was worried about was the Karaqin tribe in the northeast of the Duolun tribe. Just this summer, he had a deadly feud with the prince of the Karaqin tribe.

Once the news of his departure from Zhangjiakou spreads to the grasslands, he will face the pursuit, interception and brutal revenge of the Karaqin tribe.

When he was still in the capital, he had just decided to go back to western Liaoning via Xuanfu and Zhangjiakou, but he was questioned by Zhang Chen and Zu Keyong.

The reason why they question this route is also here.

In the end, it was Zhang Chen who understood Yang Zhen's true intention of leaving Zhangjiakou and supported Yang Zhen's decision, so that Zu Keyong could no longer oppose it.

Now that Yang Guozhu said this, Yang Zhen remained silent. Zu Keyong, who was called by Yang Zhen to follow him, thought of the danger and said aloud:

"Captain, Commander Yang is right. If we want to go to Zhangjiakou, not only will we risk the enemy outside the mouth, but it is also freezing in the pass. The dripping water turns into ice. The grassland outside the mouth is even more icy and snowy, making it difficult to pass.

.

"Even if we are lucky and don't meet Karaqin's cavalry, the place is frozen and uninhabited for thousands of miles. It is very different from the road we took when we came here. When the time comes, we will have difficulties in marching and camping. We must take this into consideration!"

After Zu Keyong finished speaking, Yang Guozhu's office was completely silent.

Everyone knew that what Zu Keyong said was right, so for a moment, those who knew Yang Zhen’s true intentions looked at Yang Zhen, and those who didn’t know Yang Zhen’s true intentions also looked at Yang Zhen, as if they were all waiting for Yang Zhen.

statement.

Yang Zhen was not in a hurry to express his position, but glanced at Zhang Chen, only to see Zhang Chen shake his head slightly.

Yang Zhen understood what Zhang Chen meant by shaking his head.

That was not to oppose leaving Zhangjiakou, but to tell Yang Zhen that Zu Keyong still didn't know.

Yang Zhen returned to the capital to offer prisoners, marched and camped along the way, or passed through various cities to rest, all arranged by Lieutenant General Zu Keyong.

And thanks to Zu Keyong, a descendant of the Liaodong Army, Yang Zhen and his party were spared the hardship of having to eat and sleep in the open on the road outside Shanhaiguan.

Now he could predict in advance that the wind, snow, and cold in the northern part of the Great Wall would be extremely unfavorable for marching and camping. To put it bluntly, it was his duty as a deputy general. Yang Zhen did not blame him for talking too much.

However, Yang Zhen had to express his attitude towards Zu Keyong's statement.

However, when he was about to speak, Yang Guozhu used Zu Keyong's words and said: "Yes, it is windy, snowy and cold in the north of Saibei. You have to travel thousands of miles, and it is really a difficult problem for you to travel with food and accommodation. Zhen'er, you have to worry about it!"

Hearing Yang Guozhu's words, Yang Zhen suddenly burst into laughter.

His smile attracted the attention of everyone, who all looked at him and wanted to know what he was laughing at.

Seeing this, Yang Zhen's face suddenly became solemn and he said: "I wonder when did I, a dignified Chinese man, become so weak and delicate? How can a mere wind and snow in the north stop my warrior cavalry?!"

"this--"

The two words Yang Zhen asked in return immediately stunned everyone on the spot. Yang Guozhu and Zu Keyong were even more stunned and unable to refute.

But Yang Zhen didn't finish what he said. Seeing that everyone was speechless, he immediately snorted, stood up, and said loudly:

"What's there to be afraid of in the wind and snow in the desert?! Since the captives can live, so can I! The captives can go, and so can I!"

After Yang Zhen finished speaking, everyone in the room looked up at him with wide eyes. At the same time, there was once again silence in Yang Guozhu's office.

After a while, Yang Guozhu suddenly stood up and said loudly: "Okay! Okay! A good prisoner can go, and I can go too! Zhen'er, you are indeed a good son of my Yang family! How can I, who is an uncle, call others

No joke, whatever you do from now on, uncle will fully support you!"

Yang Zhen didn't expect that his words would have such a harvest. This was the first time that his biological uncle had made such a clear statement that he would fully support him.

Yang Zhen quickly bowed and thanked him.

Of course, the consequences of his words did not end here.

Zu Keyong, who had always been a little puzzled by Yang Zhen's insistence on leaving the customs at Zhangjiakou and returning to western Liaoning, immediately gave up the idea of ​​persuading him again after hearing Yang Zhen's words.

At that moment, he stood up from his stool, came to Yang Zhen, then solemnly knelt down on one knee and saluted, and said:

"The Governor's vision and magnanimity make me ashamed and helpless. I have no other aspirations in this life, but with the command of the Governor, there is no other choice in the vast sea and desert!"

After Zu Keyong said this, in front of everyone present, he changed from kneeling on one knee to kneeling on both knees and bowed to Yang Zhen.

Doing this is no longer an apology for what he just said, but even an admission of mistake. It has gone far beyond that level.

This was an oath of allegiance to Yang Zhen and even the old Yang family in the presence of Yang Zhen's biological uncle, Marshal Yang Guozhu of Xuanzhen.

In fact, Zu Keyong had expressed similar thoughts to Yang Zhen a long time ago, but he was from the Ningyuan ancestral family, and he knew best what he had done with Zu Dashou in the Donglu Camp outside Dalinghe City.

Similarly, he has also realized that Yang Zhen may have known about this matter through some channels.

With these unspeakable or unspeakable things standing between him and Yang Zhen, he always had doubts. He had been under Yang Zhen for a long time, but his family had not moved to Songshan City.

Of course, Yang Zhen had never made such a request to him, but due to various factors, he was not involved in the various secret operations launched by Yang Zhen.

Including this visit to the Xuan Mansion, Yang Zhen had a secret conversation with Yang Guozhu, the commander-in-chief of Xuan Town, for so long. Zu Keyong was actually not interested in what they talked about specifically.

However, Yang Zhen brought Zhang Chen to participate, but did not bring him as a deputy general to participate, but it made him feel that he still had not won Yang Zhen's absolute trust.

After returning to the capital to offer prisoners, Yang Zhen was awarded the title of World Lord Jin Haibo. At the same time, he also submitted a large list of meritorious soldiers to the Ministry of War, including Zu Keyong.

Zu Keyong knew this.

And he also knew that with his current position as deputy general, and Yang Zhen's past practice of dividing the work among his generals, it was a certainty that he would become the commander-in-chief this time.

Being able to become the commander-in-chief was, of course, a big deal for Zu Keyong. It was equivalent to the end of his lifelong ambition. However, compared with whether he could gain Yang Zhen's absolute trust, this matter immediately eclipsed him.

.

Ever since Yang Zhen led his troops across the sea for the first time and attacked the Manchurian enemy rear, Zu Keyong realized that Yang Zhen would never be a mediocre person or general.

When Yang Zhen led his troops to cross the sea for the second time, he did something that Zu Dashou had not done in Liaodong for more than ten years in a short period of time. He captured Fuzhou and the area south of the Jinzhou Peninsula. This made Zu Keyong even more aware.

He realized that not only was Yang Zhen not a mediocre general, but he was bound to do something extraordinary.

At this time, Zu Keyong looked back at himself and discovered to his surprise that he had not participated in Yang Zhen's two crossings of the sea to fight in southern Liaoning.

If you want to work under Yang Zhen and follow him to achieve a great cause of being a wife and a son, how can you do it if you continue like this?

This time, out of good intentions, he tried to dissuade Yang Zhen from taking them out of Zhangjiakou, through the Snow Desert of Saibei, and back to Songshan in western Liaoning. However, he was scolded by Yang Zhen, which made him uneasy, fearing that Yang Zhen might misunderstand him.

understood his original intention.

So Zu Keyong decided to simply show his allegiance here in front of Yang Guozhu, the elder of the Yang family and the commander-in-chief of Xuanzhen.

Of course, what Yang Zhen said really touched him, making him feel infinitely ashamed when thinking about the past, and at the same time, he was also heartbroken again.

Zu Keyong knelt on the ground, and when he said this, everyone present was greatly surprised.

In particular, Yang Guozhu, Yang Lun and others looked at Yang Zhen and Zu Keyong for a while, as if to see what was going on between Yang Zhen and his subordinate.

Yang Zhen was also stunned for a moment, and then he realized that Zu Keyong meant to express his allegiance in public.

He had talked with Zu Keyong before, on his way out of the west to rob the caravan. Zu Keyong expressed his loyalty to him, but there were only two of them present at the time.

After that, Yang Zhen actually trusted Zu Keyong a lot, but other generals under Yang Zhen didn't know what was going on. Due to Zu Keyong's identity as a ancestral family, they still kept aloof from him.

He also thought that Yang Guozhu treated Zu Keyong differently yesterday afternoon and only arranged for himself and Zhang Chen to stay in the general military mansion, while letting Zu Keyong lead the soldiers and horses to stay in the temporary camp. This was indeed an oversight.

At the same time, yesterday afternoon I just took Zhang Chen with me and talked with my uncle for a long time. In the eyes of others, it is indeed easy for people to misunderstand Zu Keyong as one of them.

Thinking of this, Yang Zhen laughed quickly, stepped forward to hold Zu Keyong's arm, and said: "Brother's intentions, Zhen has already understood. Yang Zhen is lucky to have his brother serve him. Brother, please stand up, brother, please stand up!"

After speaking, Yang Zhen helped Zu Keyong up from the ground.

At this time, Yang Guozhu also understood. He knew that his eldest nephew could draw a collateral branch of the ancestral family like Zu Keyong to his side. His scheming skills were much better than his own.

Yang Guozhu was happy in his heart. He laughed loudly and came to Zu Keyong. Zu Keyong wanted to greet him again, but he saw Yang Guozhu patting Zu Keyong on the shoulder and said with a smile:

"We are all our own people. Nephew Ke Yong, don't be too polite, don't be too polite!"

After saying this, Yang Guozhu turned to Yang Lun and Jie Lizhu who were standing at the door and said: "Yang Lun, Zhuzi, please arrange a family banquet in the backyard. At noon, I will bid farewell to them!"
Chapter completed!