"Who's coming? But bandits? Hurry up and stop me! In a wilderness in the Dayao Mountains, a bearded Song army general rode a jujube red horse, beating the horse like a fly, galloping, and the bright red cloak was blown almost straight with his body by the wind.

The generals of the Song army rode horses and galloped in front of Li Sanjian and Cai Rongxue, reined in the reins of the horses, and pointed at the two with a horsewhip and shouted.

It's just nonsense, Li Sanjian secretly said in his heart, if he and Cai Rongxue were thieves, would they still admit it?

However, although Li Sanjian muttered secretly in his heart, he still looked at the general of the Song Army who rushed to him with "tears in his eyes", and saw him as hairy, and at the same time thought that Li Sanjian had a special habit, could it be that this "savage" man was as good as Longyang?

With a sound of "Canglang", the general of the Song army pulled out his waist knife, pointed at Li Sanjian and shouted: "Hurry up and report your name, otherwise you will definitely be taken down and sent to the official." ”

"Don't, don't, general, I've finally seen someone in Xia, and I can't help it." Li Sanjian hurriedly replied when he heard this.

Li Sanjian and Cai Rongxue walked in the mountains for half a day, walked out for more than ten miles, and finally saw people, but what they saw was not ordinary people, but a Song official army of hundreds of people, which made Li Sanjian "burst into tears"...

You must know that in this mountain, it is much better to meet officials and soldiers than to meet bandits or other people with evil intentions, right?

However, Li Sanjian looked like a "wild man" with a scruffy beard, and he came out of the mountains, so he attracted the attention of this group of officers and soldiers, for fear that they were the meticulous work of mountain thieves.

"Well, I see." When the general of the Song army heard this, he also put his knife into the sheath and said, "So you haven't seen anyone for a long time?" Who are you? Why is it here? ”

"General, can you give me some water to drink and then something to eat?" Li Sanjian licked his chapped lips and asked.

After walking for most of the day, Li Sanjian didn't drink a sip of water or take a sip of food, he was already hungry and thirsty, and he couldn't speak.

"Come, bring them some food and drink." The generals of the Song army were also refreshed and ordered their subordinates.

After a closer look, the generals of the Song Army found that although Li Sanjian had a scruffy beard, he was not very old, at most twenty years old, with clear eyebrows and beautiful eyes, and immediately had a good impression, and at the same time, although Cai Rongxue found a coarse cloth to cover his face at this time, he could also see at a glance that his identity was also extraordinary.

"Xiaosheng is Li Sanjian, the son of Guizhou, a few months ago, Xiaosheng and... Li Sanjian ate dry food, drank water, and said while eating and drinking.

"What? The two of you are ... Be... Li Sanjian and Cai Xianggong's... Daughter? Before Li Sanjian finished speaking, he was interrupted by the generals of the Song army, and the generals of the Song army suddenly showed a look of ecstasy when they heard this, and stammered and asked again and again.

"Exactly!" Hearing this, Li Sanjian raised his head in confusion and asked, "Who are you?" Where are the officers and soldiers? Do you know me? ”

Who knows you? Who are you? The generals of the Song army secretly said in their hearts.

The generals of the Song army were ecstatic that they finally found Cai Bian, the nephew of Cai Bian, the important minister of the court, and the daughter of Cai Jing, Cai Rongxue, which made the generals of the Song army so happy that they almost jumped up, turned over and dismounted, turned around and raised their hands and shouted: "The sky has eyes, I finally found them, brothers, I have made a fortune, hahahaha!" ”

Li Sanjian and Cai Rongxue were attacked in Guizhou, and their whereabouts are unknown, and then through Cai Rongxue's little maid Xiaoqin, they learned that the two were taken away by even mountain thieves, and they were immediately stunned up and down Guizhou, Li Sanjian also gave up, although he was Guizhou Xie Yuan, but after all, he was just an ordinary man, and he was really not able to find it back after being taken away by the bandits, just to be punished. But Cai Rongxue's identity is different, she is the family of an important minister of the court, so the court blames it, and Guizhou will definitely not be able to eat and walk around.

The matter was serious, so the Guizhou government did not wait for the imperial court to order, promised a heavy reward, issued an order, and summoned Guizhou soldiers and horses, went into the mountains to suppress bandits, and rescued Li Sanjian and Cai Rongxue.

Sure enough, more than a month later, the imperial court issued an order ordering the Guizhou government to strictly investigate the matter and immediately save people.

It's just that there has been no war in Guizhou for a long time, and the military affairs are relatively lax, and it took more than a month to gather people and horses before they were ready to go into the mountains to suppress bandits.

The Dayao Mountains are high and densely forested, and it is extremely difficult for the officers and troops to march, and at the same time, even the mountains are easy to defend and difficult to attack, and the terrain of the officers and troops is not familiar, so they cannot be encircled and suppressed for several months, but the officers and troops are exhausted.

However, the Guizhou government still continued to issue strict orders, ordering the officers and soldiers to capture the mountain within this month, otherwise they would be subject to military law.

At this time, this team of officers and soldiers suddenly encountered Li Sanjian and Cai Rongxue, how could it not make them ecstatic?

It's really hard to find a place to step on iron shoes, and it takes no effort to get it! With these two people, the first merit of this team of officers and soldiers will not be able to run, and the reward of the Guizhou government will be extremely rich.

When the soldiers under the generals of the Song Army heard this, they immediately hugged them, and they talked and laughed wildly around Li Sanjian and Cai Rongxue, until they saw the two of them as two golden ingots...

"Hahahaha!" The long beard of the Song army general was happy to drift away, and his big head kept shaking: "We are the people under the command of the Guizhou Metropolitan Commander, I will be preparing to serve Zhang Kan, come here, quickly prepare dry clothes, wine, and two horses, no, prepare a horse and a soft sedan chair, and serve the general well, one less hair, and the general will be served by military law." ”

The Guizhou Metropolitan Department was ready to order Zhang Kan again and again.

Zhang Kan's officers and soldiers agreed in a hurry, and hurriedly went to prepare. Latest

"Disturb, disturb, are you going into the mountains to exterminate the thieves?" Li Sanjian was put in the saddle by the officers and soldiers, and asked a little flattered.

"Exactly!" Zhang Kan replied.

"How's the war going?" Li Sanjian asked again.

Li Sanjian hated even the bandits at this time, if it wasn't for them, where was he so embarrassed? Where can it get to such a point? Perhaps the tribute was delayed.

"Hey, the war is not smooth, the mountains are high and the forests are dense, the terrain is unfamiliar, and the thieves can't attack the cottage for a long time." Zhang Kan sighed.

"How many soldiers and horses have entered the mountain?" Li Sanjian then asked.

"About 2,000 soldiers and horses." Zhang Kan replied.

Li Sanjian was silent when he heard this.

Although Li Sanjian did not know how many bandits there were, Li Sanjian had stayed in his cottage, so according to Li Sanjian's estimates, the number of bandits would not exceed about 200 at most, and the ordnance and other equipment were still extremely rudimentary.

However, what Li Sanjian didn't know was that the Song Dynasty implemented the national policy of strong cadres and weak branches, and the elite soldiers and strong generals were basically stationed in the area of Kaifeng Mansion in Beijing, and some elite troops were stationed in the northwest and northern borders, and there were very few local garrisons, and they were all composed of Xiang army, township soldiers, and archers from various townships, not elite, half-soldier and half-peasant, so the combat strength was extremely poor and unbearable for a battle.

At the same time, it is indeed because even the mountains and forests are dense, the terrain is complex, and it is easy to defend and difficult to attack, so the officers and troops cannot attack for a long time, and the war is indecisive.

"General, who is the commander of the army?" After half a ring, Li Sanjian asked casually.

Zhang Kan glanced at Li Sanjian and replied, "Guizhou Jiedu Judge Huang signed the judgment." ”

Li Sanjian was so long-winded that Zhang Kan didn't want to answer, but Li Sanjian called one general after another, which made Zhang Kan feel more comfortable.

"What? Professor Wong? Li Sanjian asked in surprise when he heard this.

Li Sanjian also knew that generally speaking, the generals of the Song Dynasty were generally filled by civilian officials, but he didn't expect it to be Huang Lian, which made Li Sanjian feel quite surprised.

"You know him?" Zhang Kan asked rhetorically.

Li Sanjian nodded and said: "The student studied in Lingshan County back then, and Professor Huang was a professor of county studies and a student... Students are taught by teachers. ”

"I see." Zhang Kan nodded and said: "Judge Huang has a good command of the troops and is well arranged, so the war has dragged on for several months, and the loss of each department is not very large, otherwise... ”

Although Huang Lian was a literati, he was familiar with military books, and he was more familiar with the military situation and public opinion in Lingnan, and he was more familiar with the situation in Guizhou. If the losses of the officials and soldiers are too heavy, then the imperial court will definitely blame them, and the officials of Guizhou will definitely be punished.

But even so, the long-delayed war also cost Guizhou countless money and food, and consumed countless military and civilian forces.

You must know that the official army sent more than 2,000 troops, but in fact, it was not only these 2,000 men and horses who entered the mountains, but also countless people who accompanied the army to the army, responsible for transporting grain, grass, ordnance and other materials, and the Lingnan road was difficult to travel, so the number of people may be thousands, or even tens of thousands.

"General, what time is it?" Li Sanjian finally asked.

"It's time for Shen, Li Juren, don't worry, you will definitely be able to get to the camp before dark." Zhang Kan replied.

"I'm asking ... What month is it in the second year of Yuanfu? Li Sanjian asked.

"Oh, hehe, it's November of the second year of Yuanfu, what's the matter? What does Li Juren mean? Oh, by the way, does Li Juren want to return to Beijing to take the Ministry of Etiquette exam? As soon as the chatterbox opened, Zhang Kan was also like a river: "Now I will return to Beijing immediately, there is still time, but we need to hurry up, and there can be no delay on the road." ”

"Exactly, exactly." Li Sanjian said happily when he heard this: "Please ask the general to return to the camp quickly, or do you want to take the next step?" ”

It's November now, so it's only about two months away from the provincial examination of the Ministry of Rites, so the time to return to Beijing immediately is really tight, but if there is no delay on the road, it may be too late, but all this is based on the basis of not delaying on the road, and at the same time, the provincial examination time proposed by the imperial court will not be advanced.

The provincial examination of the Ministry of Rites is generally held between January and February, and it may be held immediately after the New Year, which is not unheard of in the past, so Li Sanjian's mood at this time is extremely anxious.

"Well, Ben will personally accompany you back to the camp." Zhang Kan responded cheerfully.

Li Sanjian is a student of Huang Lian, but Zhang Kan is Huang Lian's subordinate at this time, Zhang Kan does not look at the face of the monk and looks at the face of the Buddha.