In the first year of Jingkang, Henan Mansion, Xijing, Luoyang.

This Yishui, Luoshui intersection of the "ancient capital of the Thirteen Dynasties", the north has the danger of the Yellow River, surrounded by mountains, there are Taihang Mountain, Wangwu Mountain in the north, Song Mountain in the east, Bear's Ear Mountain, Funiu Mountain, Waifang Mountain in the south, there are Kunshan Mountain, Bishan Mountain in the west, it is a steep place that is easy to defend and difficult to attack, after the Huangchao Uprising at the end of the Tang Dynasty, the war of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, and the ancient capital of Jingzhao Mansion in Shaanxi Province, Chang'an, have declined and withered.

Compared with the shops in Kaifeng, Tokyo, the prosperity of all industries, the flow of people, the solemn Qingcheng, the smoke and water of Jinmingchi, and the inside and outside of Xijing City, the market is depressed, - it is much more deserted and lonely, and the people in the city are much less.

As the Jurchen Fanzi moved south, the soldiers pointed directly at the north bank of the Yellow River, and the refugees north of the Yellow River went south one after another, flocking across the river, so that the city of Luoyang in Xijing, on the south bank of the Yellow River, is now overcrowded and full of refugees.

Wang Song followed Zhai Liang to the governor's mansion in Dongcheng, and Zhai Liang went to see Wang Xiang, the governor of the West Road, to handle the waist card in the army, and asked him for a warrant for use on the road.

I don't know what Zhai Jin thinks, so he asked his son to go to Hedong with Wang Song and go to the army to see if he could save Wang Song's eldest brother Wang Qing.

However, with Zhai Liang's help, at least there are horses and customs clearance documents, and it is much more convenient to travel on the road.

A tall woman with a black veil came out of the governor's mansion, saw Wang Song waiting alone in the courtyard, noticed his familiar face, and couldn't help but be stunned for a moment.

She turned around, asked the soldier next to her softly, and looked at Wang Song carefully a few times before turning to leave.

Zhai Liang took the token out, saw Wang Song, and said with a smile: "Manager Wang and his father have an old relationship, with the token and Manager Wang's handwriting, it will be much more convenient to do things."

Wang Song suddenly realized, it turned out that Wang Xiang, the head of the West Road, and the Zhai Xing brothers had a relationship, no wonder things went so smoothly.

"Erlang, did you see a woman in black in the courtyard just now? This person actually has a forbidden waist card, and I don't know where it is sacred?"

Wang Song shook his head and said with a smile: "My Fair Lady, the gentleman is good, could it be that the little official has moved his heart and wants to get to know that woman?" With your knowledge and talent, peach blossom luck is indispensable. ”

Zhai Liang didn't answer Wang Song's words directly, but said with a smile: "Erlang, when we left the town, Chen Blind gave you a hexagram, saying that you have prosperous peach blossoms, and there will be many women to help you in your life." Let's go to Hedong this time to see if Chen's blind words will work. ”

Blind Chen is a well-known divination master in the town, and when Wang Song and the two left, Blind Chen also calculated a hexagram for the two.

"I don't know if there is peach blossom luck. I only know that with you, a powerful Zhai official, the road is much smoother. ”

Wang Song's words were very heartfelt. The Zhai Xing brothers have great powers, not only are they good with Wang Xiang, the head of the Western Road, but Yao Gu and Zhang Hao of the Western Army can also talk. In this way, the trip of the two will be much safer.

Zhai Liang smiled slightly, with a hint of arrogance on his face.

"Erlang, I heard that you and Zhang Xiuxiu of the Zhang family have divorced, if you are serious, you must find the Hun family earlier, so that your mother can worry about it."

I didn't expect this to happen just now, and everyone already knows about it. Wang Song nodded and smiled: "Zhai Xiaoguan, I ask you Jiyan, the future mothers-in-law below, you have to be careful now, their baby daughters, but they can't raise them for a few days!"

The two laughed, got on their horses and left the palace, leaving Luoyang City.

When they came to the Mengjin ferry, the two found that the ferries on both sides of the Yellow River were already overcrowded, and there were endless boats coming and going on the river, carrying not only civilians, but also sergeants. Not only were a large number of Song soldiers stationed at the ferry, but even the passing ships were carefully checked by the soldiers to see if there were any Jurchen spies mixed in.

On the north bank of the Yellow River, a large number of people are waiting in line to cross the river with their families. A few years ago, Fanzi once went deep into all parts of Hedong and almost hit the Yellow River. The Song court promised to cede the three towns of Taiyuan, Zhongshan, and Hejian, with the Yellow River as the boundary, and Fanzi retreated.

When the people crossed the Yellow River, they had to open their burdens one by one and accept the interrogation of the Song soldiers. When encountering a rich man, the soldier openly asked for bribes, and if he was unwilling, he was arrested for the crime of collaborating with the enemy and being suspicious of being a careful worker.

Suddenly, a middle-aged rich man with a fat head and big ears and a brocade robe and leather boots shouted loudly. It turned out that the two ingots of gold in his baggage were searched by the officers and soldiers. The merchant pleaded loudly, knelt on the ground, and kowtowed frequently.

A man who looked like an officer stepped forward, slapped Shang Jia twice, and said loudly: "Brothers, this is a Jurchen work, arrest me and throw it into a cell!"

Shang Jia's face turned pale, and he kept making apologies to the officers and soldiers who surrounded him, and then the officers and soldiers walked away.

The officer took the gold ingot in his hand and touched it greedily a few times before reaching out and putting it into the bag.

"Who is this person, who can do such a thing that is inferior to a pig and a dog?"

Seeing that Wang Song was indignant and his eyes widened, Zhai Liang hurriedly grabbed him and said, "Erlang, this is not a place to cause trouble, we still have important things to do!"

Wang Song was furious, nodded, and tried to calm down.

The two of them lined up in a long line to cross the river, struggling to move forward.

Suddenly, there was a sound of scolding from behind, and then a group of ironclad Song troops was violent, using leather whips and fists and feet to open the way, escorting a team of men and horses, towards the ferry.

Refugees continued to come from the north bank of the Yellow River, and the people dragged their families and blocked the ferry, blocking the direction of the Song army. The Song generals shouted loudly, whipped with leather whips, punched and kicked, and the refugees were terrified and rushed to both sides to make way for a passage.

Wang Song fixed his eyes and saw that the pair of Song troops were escorting a team of Jurchens, the first Jin general was dressed in brocade clothes, more than 40 years old, with a fair face, a proud demeanor, and bright eyes.

And around this Jurchen nobleman, there are more than a dozen Jurchen warriors with swords, all dressed in brocade clothes, with a tiger's back and a bear's waist, very strong.

The generals of the Song army led their subordinates to punch and kick, and quickly "swept" a road, and the generals of the Song army were full of smiles, nodded and bowed, escorted a group of invincible golden envoys, and got on a big ship.

The general of the Song army turned his head, and Wang Song could see clearly that it was the officer who had robbed the people of their gold just now.

Wang Song shook his head secretly, angry. These Song soldiers treated the people, punched and kicked, flew high, and treated the Jin envoys, groveling and shameless. Relying on such a sergeant to protect his family and defend the country, Wang Song's heart was half cold.

"Little brother, do you know if the army of Yao Gu Xianggong and Xiao Xianggong has passed?"

The two of them showed up the paperwork, Zhai Liang handed over the handbook and waist card, and after the soldiers checked it, they replied respectfully: "Two officials, Yao Xianggong's army crossed the river three days ago, if you hurry up, you may be able to catch up." The small Xianggong crossed the river on the side of Huazhou, Tokyo, and it should be on the east side of Taihang Mountain, but I don't know the specific itinerary. ”

He looked at Wang Song and the others and admonished: "Two officials, after crossing the Yellow River, it is not peaceful, there are wars everywhere, you two should do it yourself."

"Little brother, thank you."

Wang Song pointed to the big boat that had just left the river and asked, "Little brother, do you know the identity of the Jin man on the boat and where he came from?"

Wang Song handed over a piece of broken silver, and the soldier took it, his eyes narrowed into a line, and he smiled.

"Don't hide it from the two officials, these golden people lived in the post house last night, and the villain just served them. These envoys came from the city of Tokyo, and I heard that they were returning to Xijing to restore their lives, and the leader's surname was Xiao, who seemed to be a Liao person. ”

Wang Song nodded, lowered his head and thought for a moment, then suddenly raised his head and said, "Little brother, this golden envoy is called Xiao Zhonggong?"

The soldier thought for a moment, nodded and said, "Yes, yes, yes, it seems to be the name." Official, how do you know, do you know him?"

Wang Song waved his hand and left, and the soldier shook his head and walked away alone.

"Erlang, you inquire about these golden envoys, is there something strange?"

Wang Song let out a long breath, he looked around, and said in a low voice: "Don't hide it from the little official, the golden envoy on the ship is named Xiao Zhonggong." This person was capricious, and he made suggestions for the Jin people to invade the Song Dynasty in the south, running up and down. It is the scourge of my Great Song. ”

Xiao Zhonggong, the former minister of Liao, later invested in gold. In the first year of Jingkang, Xiao Zhonggong was the envoy of the Jin Dynasty to the Great Song Dynasty, which was originally to extort gold and silver, and then obtained Zhao Huan's secret decree to pass the wax book to the late Liao general, the Jin minister Yelu Yujun, and asked him to oppose Jin and restore Liao.

Who knew that Xiao Zhonggong directly presented the wax book to Wanyan Zonghan, so that the second southward invasion of the Song Dynasty by the Jin people was even more violent.

Although even without this wax book, the Jin people would have invaded the Song Dynasty in the south, but this Xiao Zhonggong obviously did not play a good role in the middle.

However, with the hindsight of these historical facts, Wang Song obviously has no way to explain them to Zhai Liang.

"Xiao Zhonggong this thief, the imperial court originally let him mediate in the middle, and joined Yelu Yujun to fight against Jin, who knows that this thief is loyal to the Jin people, he has the secret decree of the official family, once he dedicates it to Wanyan Zonghan, I am afraid that it will be greatly disadvantageous to our dynasty."

"Erlang, how do you know these things, why have you never heard of them?"

Sure enough, Zhai Liang's eyes opened like eggs, and the shock in his heart was indescribable.

"That day, Second Brother Zhai and I killed Fanzi outside Tokyo, and it was the Han general who told me. I didn't take it to heart, but when I saw these golden people today, this matter flashed to my heart. ”

Wang Song's face remained unchanged and made up this string of lies.

"Is this true or false, will the Han people lie to you?"

Zhai Liang saw that Wang Song didn't look like a lie, and he was also half-convinced.

"It is better to believe what you have than to believe what you don't have."

Wang Song said categorically: "If this secret letter reaches the hands of the Wanjin people, the people of my Great Song Dynasty will be poisoned by it again." In any case, I will steal this letter back to prevent future troubles. ”

I thought that Zhai Liang would object, but who knew that he exhaled heavily and said in a low voice: "Erlang, let's cross the river quickly, this matter is related to the safety of the imperial court and the major affairs of the country, you and I will do our best, I will definitely help you get that secret letter!"

Wang Song couldn't help but feel a fever in his heart. This Zhai Liang is a little arrogant on weekdays, but he didn't expect to see it today, Wang Song found out that this personable Yanei is also a loyal and courageous person.