What Yang Hezhi said to Zhang Shao was: "The lower officials followed the troops outside the city, and heard that Helan Yannian pretended to build a camp in the east of the city, and the soldiers had already gone east at night. Xia Guan hurriedly went to the east of the city, and saw that although there were a number of Xianbei Hu cavalry stationed in the east of the city, and estimated the number of them, the number of people who stayed was less than 1,000 horses, and there were more than 3,000 horses less! The lower official asked to see Helan Yannian, but was excused by a few Xianbei Xiaoxiao in every possible way, but after all, he couldn't see him! ”

Yang Hezhi's report can be regarded as a "briefing", which is limited to the level of urgency, and he has no time to elaborate on some things.

For example, the person who "heard and said" and told him about it was not the soldiers of the Dingxi Army, but the Tang people outside Guangmu County who took the sheep and carried the wine and specially came to comfort the "Wang Shi" in order to show favor to Dingxi.

In fact, in the garrison of the Xianbei cavalry in the east of the city, there are really many flags and bonfires lit, if only judging from the flags and bonfires, there must be about three or four thousand horsemen, which is exactly the same number as the number of troops brought by Helan Yannian; However, Yang Hezhi is a clever and careful person, and by forcibly approaching the hinterland of his station several times, he cleared this layer of fog, found the truth from it, and came to the judgment that the stayers were actually less than a thousand horsemen.

Another example is when he asked to see Helan Yannian, the few humble and reckless "shirk" words that blocked him, first said that Helan Yannian was busy with military affairs, and then said that he had found the remnants of Wen Shilan, Helan Yannian planned to transfer troops to chase after him, and so on several excuses, some excuses, such as "found the remnants of Wen Shilan", are simply ridiculous, according to Helan Wenyue's previous statement, after Wen Shilan was defeated in the desert, he fled westward, how could he find his traces outside Guangmu City at this moment? As soon as you hear it, you know that it is perfunctory.

Zhang Shao steadied his mind, his eyes found Helan Wenyue, and said slowly: "Has your army gone east?" ”

Helan Wenyue was surprised, did not answer the question, and said, "What does the general mean by this?" ”

"Lord Helan hasn't entered the city yet, did he personally lead the troops of your army to the east?"

"General, I don't understand what you mean?"

Zhang Shao stared at Helan Wenyue tightly, observed the change in the expression on his face, and said, "Where are your troops going east?" ”

Helan Wenyue was very calm, and said solemnly: "General, why is our army suddenly going east?" Our army is obviously in the east of the city, where did it come from to the east? I don't understand your words. What the general means, please make it clear. ”

Zhang Shaozhi couldn't ask from him, so he glanced at Yang Hezhi and Zhang Gui.

Yang Hezhi pulled Zhang Gui, and the two went out of the hall.

Yang Hezhi told Zhang Gu what he heard again.

Zhang Gu was shocked, thought for a moment, and immediately ordered the soldiers on duty to find Zhao Rangan.

Not long after, Zhao Rangan came.

There are not only Zhang Shao's personal soldiers in the courtyard, but also the Xianbei elite soldiers brought by Helan Wenyue, Zhang Gui deliberately said loudly to Zhao Rangan: "The celebration banquet will be held, and Lord Helan has not yet entered the city." If you go to the east of the city now, you must invite Lord Helan to come quickly! He lowered his voice and said, "I heard that a lot of Tuoba cavalry seems to have left the city and gone east, you go to the east of the city, and find out whether this matter is true or false!" ”

Zhao Ran responded to the order, so he took a few entourages and went out of the city to ask Helan to extend the year.

But why did he ask Zhao Rangan to verify and verify the authenticity of this matter? As mentioned above, Tiefu Xiongnu and Tuoba Xianbei because of the proximity of the territory they occupy, the two were married in the early years, Zhao Rangan's mother is from the Tuoba Department, and his younger brother Zhao Guyan is still living in the Tuoba Department, because Zhao Rangan and Tuoba Xianbei nobles mostly know each other, this is a reason; Another one, Helan Yannian is a Huns, Zhao Rangan is an Tiefu Huns, Tiefu, refers to the paternal line of the Huns, that is, his two clans belong to a similar class, and the two are combined, Yang Hezhi asks to see Helan Yannian, Xianbei people can make excuses to shirk at will, Zhao Rangan is the first heir of the Tiefu Huns, if he asks to see Helan Yannian, the Xianbei people will not be able to refuse indiscriminately.

Zhang Gu did not return to the hall.

After Zhao Rangan left, he took his hands in the courtyard, hooked his head, limped, and paced back and forth.

Yang Hezhi slowed down, followed his side, and said softly: "Gong Zhang, the matter of Xianbei cavalry dividing troops to the east is not expected to be fake. Zhang Gong thinks that they will go east for the sake of ......? ”

Zhang Gui is much older than Yang Hezhi, and now in front of a later talent like Yang Hezhi, he has relied on his qualifications from the time he was attached to Xin Er and the merits he has made for Xin Er over the years, and Fu Qiao and others, he has also mixed up with the honorific title of "Gong". - But fortunately, he is not a monk, the current practice of honorific titles for famous monks, is to add a "teacher" or "gong" word after his surname or his name, after the surname, or add a teacher word, if he adds a public word after his name, in Xin Er to hear, I am afraid it will be indecent.

To the east of Guangmu, along the Yellow River for a hundred miles, is Shuofang County, the county of Shuofang County; Shuofang County is more than 100 miles to the east, is Heyin County; Further east of Heyin County, that is, Daibei. If Helan Yannian really divided his troops to the east, then his purpose was obvious, and he could only be one, that is, to seize the opportunity of the capture of Gaogao and the destruction of the main force of the Shuofang Qin army, and seize Shuofang and Heyin counties before the Dingxi army.

Zhang Gui muttered: "If Helan Yannian leads the ride east, of course it can't be to return to Daibei in the first place, so he can only want to seize Shuofang and Heyin!" If Shuofang and Heyin are seized by them, although our army has to be widely pastoralized, Shuofang County cannot be used for me! ”

Shuofang County encompasses the entire upper end of the Yellow River's "several" shape, known as the Hetao, covering a wide area, about 600 miles long from east to west, and from the western boundary of Shuofang County to Guangmu County, the east and west are only 200 miles long, in other words, if Shuofang, Heyin and other counties in the east are occupied by Tuoba Xianbei, then it is equivalent to most of the boundaries of Shuofang County have fallen into the hands of Tuoba Beijin.

If most of the areas of Shuofang County are obtained by the Tuoba Department, then only with the west end of Guangmu, Linrong and other three or two county seats, the land is barren and the people are few, and Hu Mu accounts for the majority of the people, Dingxi will obviously be more difficult to gain a foothold in Shuofang.

Yang Hezhi said: "It's urgent! Does Zhang Gong have a good plan? ”

In a hurry, Zhang Gu couldn't think of any good way, so he asked Yang Hezhi and said, "What is your plan?" ”

Yang Hezhi knew about this early, and on the way into the city to report the matter to Zhang Shaoyu, he was thinking about countermeasures, but he already had an idea. He said: "He Zhi has two strategies. ”

"Two strategies?"

"Yes."

Zhang Gu didn't care about the words of "two strategies", and hurriedly asked: "What is the best strategy?" ”

"Soon after our army entered Shuofang, Zhu Yuanrong sent two indigenous disciples over to guide our army. He Zhi heard that he was originally a high-ranking monk in Longdi, and this person should be available. He is now in Shuofang County, and he can immediately send an envoy to Shuofang in the starry night, warn him, and order him to organize men to guard Shuofang County; At the same time, send troops to the east, and strive to reach Shuofang before Helan Yannian's troops defeat Shuofang! This is the best policy. ”

Zhu Yuanrong is the Dingxi monk who was brought with him when he saw Zhao Yanli. He had a brotherly relationship with Daozhi, and he devoted himself to promoting Buddhism, and later stayed in Shuofang at the invitation of Zhao Rangan. Later, Dingxi recruited Zhao Rangan, and Zhu Yuanrong played a big role in it. However, when Zhao Rangan accepted Dingxi's solicitation and led his troops to Dingxi, Zhu Yuanrong did not follow Zhao Rangan back to Dingxi, but still stayed. Shuofang County is the county governance of Shuofang County, there are many people, the rich gentry of the Tang people, and the Hao chieftains of the Hu people are also many, and the location of the county is also relatively in Shuofang County, which is suitable for preaching, and he is now in Shuofang County.

After Zhang Shao led his troops into Shuofang County, Zhu Yuanrong sent two disciples from local backgrounds to come over, saying that it was for him to be a guide, but his original intention was that everyone could see it, not so much as to be a guide, but to say that he was showing his mind, indicating that his heart was still in Dingxi.

"Zhu Yuanrong?"

Yang Hezhi said: "Zhu Yuanrong has lived in Shuofang for several years, and now he is in Shuofang, and his reputation is high. He Zhi heard from his two disciples that many of the Tang people in Shuofang County were his followers. If he is willing to obey the order and gather Tang and Hu Yongzhuang in the county to defend the imperial city, he dare not say that he can at least hold it for a day or two, which is enough to wait until my army arrives. ”

Yang Hezhi said that Zhu Yuanrong "is now in Shuofang, and his reputation is lofty", which is good. Relying on his exquisite Buddhist knowledge and the "magic" he learned from the monks of the Western Regions, Zhu Yuanrong's reputation in Shuofang County can be said to be Rilong, and there are many believers. If he is willing to follow Zhang Shao's order and organize people to guard Yushuo Fang County, he will probably be able to hold on for a while.

Zhang Gu nodded and asked, "What's the next step?" ”

"Immediately send troops east to chase Helan Yannian's department! This is also the next step. ”

Helan Yannian's troops are all light cavalry, and they move fast, even if they send troops to chase after them now, it is not easy to catch up with them, and second, the remaining troops left in the east of the city by Helan Yannian may also harass and intercept the pursuing troops in Dingxi under the leadership of Helan Wenyue, which will further delay the marching speed of the Dingxi team and make it more and more unable to catch up.

Because of these two drawbacks, this policy is the next policy.

After listening to Yang Hezhi's two strategies, Zhang Gu made a decision and said, "The best strategy is good!" Go back to the church and dedicate this advice to the general! The people sent to Shuofang County to warn and give orders don't have to choose others, just let the two disciples of Rongshi go! Go now! Go overnight! ”

Yang Hezhi agreed, and returned to the hall and whispered his plan to Zhang Shao.

Zhang Gu continued to wait for Zhao Ran in the courtyard.

……

East of Guangmu City.

The night was dark, and a group of about 3,000 Hu people rode lightly along the course of the Yellow River and galloped towards Shuofang County, a hundred miles away.