The day after leaving He Jin's tent, Zhang Xiongfei led the front army and horses to turn south, passing through Zhongnan Mountain and entering the boundaries of Zhen'an and Xunyang. Along the way, they did not encounter a large number of officers and troops, and occasionally a small number of officers and troops circled around the troops, but they only watched from a distance and did not dare to act rashly.

From Lantian to Zhen'an, it is only a hundred miles, but there are a large number of people and horses along the road who continue to rush into the camp, and only Zhang Xiongfei has absorbed thousands of people. Many of them were scattered outcasts, miscellaneous and did not know where they belonged, and some of them were poor, but they were not very large.

Zhao Dangshi also took the opportunity to recruit some people, and expanded his subordinates to fifty people in one fell swoop. promoted Hou Dagui to fill the vacancy and became the captain, from Jinlingchuan to Lantian on the way, how effective he is, and it is reasonable to promote him to the next level.

Hou Dagui's status rose sharply, and he became majestic in an instant. He had already seen that Yang Chengfu's roe deer was not pleasing to the eye, but he didn't dare to act because of the gap in position. Now that the two are of equal status, he naturally began to dictate to Yang Chengfu, and if he was slightly unsatisfactory, he would scold. Fortunately, Yang Chengfu is also very thick-skinned, afraid of Hou Dagui, can't fight back and scold, and shouts "brother" all day long, so there is not much trouble between the two.

Not long after, news came that Lu Xiangsheng, the governor of Xunyang, was promoted to prevent the invasion of Huguang by the Liukou, and cooperated with the reinforcements in central Sichuan, and transferred Qin Yiming, the general soldier of Shiyan, to lead 2,000 Sichuan soldiers to the front line of Manchuan and Fengyang Pass. Xu Chengming, the general soldier of Huguang, led 3,600 soldiers from Baokang and Fang County to Zhuxi.

Not to mention that these 3,600 soldiers are famous plagiaristic soldiers, the 2,000 Sichuan soldiers are also strong soldiers led by the former general soldier Deng Xi earlier, and have experienced wars in many places in Gyeonggi and Liaodong. Although the number of horses of the two armies is small, it is very difficult to forcibly defeat them with the combat strength of the rogues.

Therefore, after Zhang Xiongfei took the front part into the area of Xing'an and Pingli, he did not continue to advance, but went around to collect grain in the local area, and Lao Huihui and others were basically stationed at the foot of Zhongnan Mountain, attacking the fortress, recruiting homeless people, and accumulating grain and grass.

At first, Zhao Dangshi could only lie on his horse and move with the troops, but after many days of recuperation, his injuries gradually healed, and he was able to gallop across as before.

At present, there are as many as 200,000 Liukou in Shaanxi, from Lintao and Gongchang to Xi'an, 2,000 or 3,000 miles are endless, although the momentum is great, but all of them are trapped in a corner of Guanzhong, and they are pressed by the officials and troops step by step, and it is difficult to develop. Zhao Dangshi had a hunch that it wouldn't be long before Liukou would make a big move.

After several days of obscene rain and rain, at noon on this day, Zhao Dangshi finished the food as usual, and took dozens of people to hide in a broken temple to avoid the rain, and the head of the kang suddenly came, bringing him an important news: go to Pingliang and Qingyang to contact King Chuang, the eight kings of Xiying and other departments, and bring the code words agreed in advance between Lao Huihui and these people.

When Zhao Dangshi first heard this, he was a little puzzled, to say that this matter was very important, and he was not returning to the camp, why did he take such an important responsibility. Shang Kangtou said a few words, which made him suddenly enlightened.

It turned out that Lao Huihui handed over this matter to Zhang Xiongfei to do, and Zhang Xiongfei also sent several miscellaneous cards when he sent out the elite, and the purpose was self-evident: the officers and soldiers along the way to Qingyang and other places were around, and they were all over the place, which can be described as dangerous. At best, send a few more teams to increase the likelihood of success. At worst, sending out more miscellaneous cards that are not descendants is the best success, and if it is not successful, it can also confuse the eyes of the officers and soldiers and fight for the real elite. To put it mildly, sending Zhao Dangshi out is to let him be cannon fodder.

"My brother was also sent out?" At that moment, Zhao Dangshi saw that the head of the kang had a sad face, so he asked.

Shang Kangtou blushed, sighed, and suddenly grabbed Zhao Dangshi and said: "Brother Zhao, there are many officials and soldiers outside, let's go, nine times out of ten we won't be able to come back, my brother knows that you have always had a plank-eyed brother, so I want to partner with you, and there will be a good one on the road." ”

Zhao Dangshi was silent, and after a while, he stared closely at the head of the kang, his eyes were like torches: "Brother, tell the truth, is there me or not among the people sent out?" "Since it is a heavy responsibility, why would you send a kang head to pass the word on your behalf? He felt something strange about it.

"This, this, I, I ......" Shangkang had a ghost in his heart, and he was panicked by him, bowing his head and unable to speak.

"Ugh." Looking at him like this, Zhao Dangshi knew the truth, shook off his hand on the kang and stood up, facing the outside of the temple, "I am my brother and my brother, but you come to scold me." ”

He coldly threw down this sentence, and the atmosphere in the temple became solemn in an instant, no one on both sides dared to breathe, and a few anxious people even secretly drew their knives.

"Brother!"

Just when everyone was tense at the heartstrings, the kang head somehow came out crying, and at the same time hugged Zhao Dangshi's right leg. In this situation, Rao was caught off guard by Zhao Dangshi, who was used to seeing battles.

The errand surnamed Zhang pointed to the errand of asking the old brother to pin his head and jump into the fire pit. Brother is not familiar with others, only you can ask for it, if you help Brother this time, Brother will be a cow and a horse in the future to honor you! Shang Kangtou said a handful of snot and tears, an old face wrinkled like the bark of a locust tree, and completely disregarded the image of his own hundred households in front of his subordinates.

Zhao Dangshi frowned, and wanted to pull out his right leg several times, but he had no choice but to go up to the kang head monkey and go up the tree as if he was holding his leg to death, and he didn't let go, so he could only comfort him with gentle words: "You and I have been robed for many years, everything is easy to discuss, why do you need this." ”

Shang Kangtou burst into tears and said: "If you don't help me, I will die." Either you slash me with a knife today, or promise me to go out with me. ”

"Fart!" Hou Dagui jumped out of nowhere, furious, "You are going to die by yourself, and you still want to pull us on your back?" Hundred households, if you listen to him, you will reward him with a knife. ”

As soon as these words came out, the temple immediately became agitated, and Zhao Dangshi and the people on both sides of the kang picked up their weapons to confront each other, always ready to fight.

"Thief, your mother, how dare you talk to my brother like this, don't get out of the way!" Hou Dagui's words did not resonate with Zhao Dangshi, but was scolded.

Hou Dagui was stunned for a moment, but when he saw that Zhao Dang had a murderous aura in the world, he knew that he was serious, so he muttered two sentences and didn't dare to speak again, and hid to the side.

Zhao Dangshi easily picked up the kang head, sat down with him, and said with a pleasant face: "What my brother said, between our brothers, how can there be anything that can't die." Your business is my Zhao's business. ”

When Shangkang heard this, he immediately accepted his sorrow and raised his eyebrows: "So my brother agreed?" "The change is so fast and calm, it beats all the acting schools that Zhao Dangshi has ever seen.

In fact, at this moment, Zhao Dangshi had a bold idea in his heart, and if this idea was realized, the future would be promising. Thinking about it this way, this kang head is not a plague god, but a small god of wealth.

"Say yes and agree, say no yes and don't say yes." Zhao Dangshi was expressionless and said lightly.

Shang Kangtou heard it in a fog, and was a little anxious: "Brother, don't sell Guanzi anymore, don't agree to say it clearly." ”

Zhao Dangshi glanced at him, tapped the mud ground with his fingers, and said slowly: "It's okay to go, but ...... I'm going on my brother's behalf. ”

"On my behalf?" The head of the kang was stunned, thinking that everyone could avoid this fearful way, and the person surnamed Zhao was afraid that his head would be wormed and talk nonsense, "Brother, brother, make it clearer." ”

"If you go to deliver the message, the elder brother will not have to work hard, and the younger brother will do it on his behalf. The younger brother will inform the person surnamed Zhang about this matter, and there is no reason for the person surnamed Zhang to refuse. Zhang Xiongfei looked at Zhao Dangshi unpleasantly, if it weren't for He Jin's cover, he would not be allowed to be under his hands. Now that Zhao Dangshi is in danger, he must be a hundred to agree.

"But brother, you have to promise a few conditions to my brother."

"What conditions?"

The next day, as soon as his belly turned white, Zhao Dangshi took his men out of the camp. Sure enough, Zhang Xiongfei saw that he was willing to "kill himself", and he agreed, and promised that if this round trip was successful, Zhao Dangshi would be promoted to thousands of households.

These virtual Zhao Dangshi didn't care, he thanked him verbally, patted his ass and left. When he left the camp and looked at the fifty riders behind him, he smiled heartily.

I have to say that the fight on the kang is not good, he is as timid as a mouse, but he can really mix. The time spent under Zhang Xiongfei was not long, but he was always able to get a piece of the pie, and there were not only a lot of people under him, but also dozens of horses, no matter how good they were. Yesterday, Zhao Dangshi made an appointment with him, and he could risk death for him, but as compensation, Shangkang had to give his own people.

If the centaurs are gone, they can still rob them, but if their lives are gone, they will have nothing. Shangkang Tou thinks about this very reasonably, he doesn't fight any hard battles after all, as long as his legs and feet are sharp, others win the battle, pick up more leaks, lose the battle, run faster and flee for his life, the so-called elite soldiers and fierce generals are all floating clouds, Zhao Dangshi likes these two stunned people, so it doesn't hurt to give him some.

Zhao Dangshi selected fifty people under his command, left some, and selected some from Shangkangtou, and finally formed a relatively "elite" horse team. With such hard power, he has the confidence to contact other departments. In addition to the centaurs, he asked for some silver money by the way. This kind of thing outside the body, Shang Kangtou didn't care about it, and gave more than fifty taels happily, with these, with enough dry food, Zhao Dangshi was satisfied.

There is no diamond to do porcelain work, although there is a small family background, but this quality of the fifty horsemen and hundreds of forces is undoubtedly insignificant, Zhao Dangshi has self-knowledge, so the most important thing of this trip is the route.

The lack of a map in his hand did not prevent Zhao Dangshi from choosing a route. Most of his subordinates are from Shaanxi, and their origins are also complex, including many indigenous people from Hanzhong, Xi'an and other places. Gather them, and each question can roughly outline the local area of Shaanxi.

In order to brainstorm, Zhao Dangshi called Wang Laixing, Hou Dagui and Yang Chengfu to consult together. said that he called three, but in fact, Yang Chengfu didn't dare to let one fart in front of Hou Dagui, so he just promised. Wang Laixing is young, short-sighted, and has no opinions. Zhao Dangshi knew that Hou Dagui was capable, so he mainly consulted with him.

Hou Dagui was actually very opposed to Zhao Dangshi's volunteering to take on this thankless errand, but now that the wood was in the boat, and seeing that he was full of interest, he could only complain and concentrate on planning.

After some agreement, first go northwest through Maling Pass into Shiquan, then smuggle through Yangxian, enter Fu Luo Road, pass through Qinling, enter Fengxiang, and finally go around from Fengxiang to Pingliang and Qingyang. It may seem like a big circle, but it is undoubtedly the safest way to do it. The people and horses who returned to the camp disturbed Xing'an and Pingli in the southeast of Hanzhong, and the officers and troops in Shiquan and other places on the left had already fled from the wind and shrank to Sun Xianzu in Hanzhong, and there should be no big problem when they passed through this place. And why take Fu Luo Road instead of Meridian Road is to take into account the recent Xi'an War, Hong Chengchou had ordered He Renlong, Liu Chenggong, Wang Yongxiang and others to cut off the north and south of the Meridian Valley, and now it is likely that there are still large groups of officers and troops cruising between them, in contrast, the slightly farther Fu Luo Road is safer. As for the situation on Feng Xiang's side, with the information that Zhao Dangshi and others have learned from the current investigation, they can't know it, and they can only wait there to see the opportunity to act.

With such a plan, Zhao Dangshi, Hou Dagui and others were a little at ease, and the rest of the miscellaneous soldiers would not worry about where to go when they saw the calm appearance of the leader.

With the speed of horses, only one day, at the latest, at the twilight, a group of people arrived at Maling Pass. Maling Pass, known as Fangshan Pass in ancient times, renamed in the Ming Dynasty, there is a Maling Post not far from the pass, but it is the same as the checkpoint, it has long been empty of people.

After everyone picked up the post station, they would lie down in the lobby to rest, and only closed their eyes for a short time, but they heard the neighing of the outsiders in the post, and there was a vote of soldiers and horses.

Yang Chengfu immediately jumped up in fright, and Zhao Dangshi pressed him down, and at the same time made everyone not panic in a deep voice. Previously, in order to prevent such an emergency, he ordered all the horses to be tied to the open space behind the post station, and those in front of the post station should not know that there was anyone in the post at this time.

The soldiers will block the water and cover the earth, the black light under the eyes, the origin of the other party is unknown, before the other party does not know the truth of the other party, Zhao Dangshi does not want to act rashly. He gave Hou Dagui a look, and then looked at the courtyard, the other party understood, and whispered to half of the people to quietly retreat to the left wing of the courtyard, and Zhao Dangshi led people to hide in the right wing. Cover the door and look out through the hole.

Not long after, people from outside the courtyard came in, and when the first few were holding torches, by the light of the fire, Zhao Dangshi found that the leader was familiar, and it was a close confidant of Zhang Xiongfei. This cronie was also sent to the Qingyang area to deliver the news, needless to say, it must be the "elite" who needed the "cover" of cannon fodder such as Zhao Dangshi, and I didn't want them to take this road.

The leader walked around the courtyard with a torch, obviously satisfied with the place where he was sleeping, and was about to enter the lobby, when a man hurried from outside the courtyard gate, and talked to him anxiously for a moment. The leader's face suddenly showed a look of horror, and he said loudly as he walked back, "Hurry up, there is someone in the post!" ”

It seemed that the horse behind the post station had been discovered by them, and Zhao Dangshi thought for a moment and made a move that surprised all his subordinates.