When Zhao Dangshi saw Xiong Wanjian, the titular "new master" of Baocheng, for the first time, he felt that the other party's mental state was not good, not to mention the decline in form caused by the war, even his eyes were cloudy. This majestic strong man is hanging his head at the moment, and he is completely lifeless.

Due to etiquette, Zhao Dangshi still took the initiative to greet him affectionately, he chatted with Xiong Wanjian for a few words, and never mentioned Wu Dading's matter, but Xiong Wanjian seemed to be very absent-minded, and he talked about him many times in his words, and his perfunctory coping was obvious, which made Zhao Dangshi a little unhappy in his heart.

The atmosphere was embarrassing, and the two walked up from Xiong Wanjian's left and right sides at the same time, and one of them arched his hand better: "In the lower Song Hou Zhen, this is Liu Yongjin, and I have seen the general." After he finished speaking, Liu Yongjin on the side also said, "I've seen the general", but the mental state of these two people is much more vibrant.

Zhao Dangshi didn't pay much attention to Xiong Wanjian, and said: "Although the official army retreats, it may not come back. Our army is exhausted, and we hope to enter the city to rest. ”

He said this to Xiong Wanjian, but it was Song Hou Zhen who answered, and only listened to Song Hou Zhen: "This is a natural move, and the general can rest assured, there are more than 100 empty houses in the city, which can be used for the strong men of your army to rest." Speaking of which, I would like to add a sentence, "Since your army is exhausted, do you need the assistance of our department in cleaning up the outside of the city?" ”

Zhao Dangshi is very proficient, so he naturally knows that Song Hou really speaks well, but in fact, he just wants to take the opportunity to pick up some leaks. For this point, Zhao Dangshi made proper arrangements before entering the city, and even if Song Houzhen went out of the city, he wouldn't be able to get much good things. So he didn't worry about it, and he didn't want to spoil the harmony, so he said leisurely: "Then there will be the Ministry of Labor and Gui." ”

Song Houzhen said again: "The preparations for war in the city are finished, and all aspects have not yet been adjusted. Please also rest in the city for the night, and tomorrow I will wait for you and your brothers to wash the dust. Liu Yongjin also nodded yes.

Zhao Dangshi smiled and said: "They are all brothers, there is no need to be so grand, everything is simple." After finishing speaking, he only bowed his hand politely to Xiong Wanjian, and without saying a word more, he walked away.

The gate of Baocheng is not big, and by the time Zhao Ying and Zhang Miaoshou's soldiers all entered the city, it was already approaching dusk. During this period, there was no trace of the return of the officers and soldiers in the news brought back by the scouts, and there was nothing outside the city except for the corpses everywhere and the few soldiers who collected the corpses.

Zhao Dangshi stayed in the mansion of a wealthy family in the city. It is said that it is a wealthy family, but in fact, it has experienced countless times of war, and the mansion only has an empty shelf, and there is no longer a little bit of the rich and prosperous atmosphere of the past. Zhao Dangshi hastily ate dinner in the mansion, then sat in the hall and listened to the accurate casualty losses counted by various departments. Hou Dagui and Xu Hui accompanied him.

Judging from the exact information reported, the three divisions of Guo Hutou, Li Yanyi, and Bai Wang in the front battalion only suffered relatively small casualties among Li Yanyi's troops behind the battle, and the structure was quite complete. Guo Hutou and Bai Wang's two divisions not only suffered seven or eight out of ten casualties, but even the generals were seriously wounded, basically completely losing their combat capability. For Guo and Bai, Zhao Dangshi does not blame them, facing the main force of the officers and troops who have experienced a hundred battles, and the disparity in strength is huge, and it is no longer a problem that can be solved by the personal ability of the commander alone. Zhao Dangshi was just a little distressed and damaged by those gunners, these people he had really trained for months, and it was a pity that he didn't fight in a battle.

Xu Hui also saw Zhao Dangshi's sadness, as the founder of the Zhao Ying Firearms Team, how could he not be sad? It's just that he has always been a forward-looking person, and he doesn't like to immerse himself in the sadness of the past, and he tried to enlighten Zhao Dangshi through the reality of the short training period for handling firearms and the fact that there were a lot of seizures from the Fei Yi Zaibu in this battle, and achieved good results. Zhao Dangshi's worries gradually disappeared, he is not a calculating person, Zhao Ying can start from scratch, the firearms team can still be retrained if it is gone, if it is affected by a victory or defeat, it is not the talent of a real general.

The situation in the middle camp was not much better, and the two divisions of Bai Jiaolong and Wu Mingfeng were also beaten to pieces, with nearly half of the casualties. Among them, Bai Jiaolong and Wu Mingfeng were also injured, one was seriously injured and the other was slightly lighter.

The only consolation is Han Gon's horse battalion, more than 1,000 horse troops, while achieving the most important results, the casualties are less than 100, this performance can be described as very good. Therefore, the first merit of this battle was deservedly given to Han Gon, the general of the Ma military camp. Han Gon was not particularly excited about this honor, but secretly asked Zhao Dangshi to reward him with a jar of wine, saying that he would invite a few brothers to drink it. Zhao Dangshi is not an unreasonable person, so he agreed.

While the casualties of the soldiers were staggering, the losses of the officers should not be underestimated. In this battle, in addition to the two thousand generals who stayed by Zhao Dangshi's side, three of the five generals who participated in the battle were seriously injured and their safety is still unknown, and the other two were also slightly injured. Thousands of troops are easy to get and hard to find, although Guo Hutou, Bai Wang, Bai Jiaolong, etc. were defeated, and they were placed in Zhao's camp, they were all the generals who came out with their fingers on their fingers, Zhao Dangshi really couldn't think of it, if any of these three people unfortunately died, who could fill it immediately. Therefore, he strictly ordered the soldiers and the doctors temporarily gathered in the city to do their best to treat the three people, and even put down such threatening words as "If the three people are in the pool, none of the people involved in the rescue will survive".

As night fell, the number of soldiers who went in and out of the mansion to report gradually decreased, and after listening to the follow-up news of the capture of the battlefield and the tracking of Zu Dabi's army, Zhao Dangshi's mood was gloomy on the whole.

Hou Dagui picked up the kettle and took a sip of water, and said: "Zhangpan, I heard that the officials and soldiers of Luoyang only have three departments: Zu Dabi, Fei Yizai, and Zu Jie. Now that the latter two are dead, Zu Dabi is newly defeated, if nothing goes wrong in northern Shaanxi, we should be able to rest for a while. ”

What he said was also the truth, Hong Chengchou evacuated the soldiers and horses in southern Shaanxi and turned around to fight Li Zicheng, according to Li Zicheng's temperament of "I will hide when Hong comes, and I will fight when Hong leaves", the situation in northern Shaanxi is difficult to clarify in less than ten days and half a month. And the defeat of the Luoyang side, relying solely on the defeated Zu Dabi and the remnants of Fei Yizai and Zu Jie, it is okay to defend themselves, and it is impossible to attack again. Therefore, on the whole, Zhao Ying should be safe and sound for a long period of time.

However, this is only "should", and the situation, like the weather in the mountains, can change. Just a few days ago, who would have thought that the originally stable Baocheng would suddenly break out into chaos? Moreover, the victory or defeat of Qin Jinxiao in Hannan is still unknown, if he loses, and Hou Liangzhu, the general soldier of Sichuan, can go out of Sichuan smoothly, then before the vitality is restored, Zhao Ying will not be able to resist the attack of the Sichuan soldiers no matter what. In addition, there is another variable, that is, Sun Chuanting in Xi'an. After this guy united with Zu Kuan to bring down the old king Gao Yingxiang, he has not moved. But Zhao Dangshi never relaxed his surveillance, and based on the news that infiltrated the north of the night, scouts, etc., Zhao Dangshi learned that Sun Chuanting had been "working hard" for a period of time, the so-called "outside must first settle inside", Sun Chuanting was committed to stabilizing his base camp, and in terms of results, the results were remarkable. If this person does not die for a day, Zhao Dangshi will not be at peace for a day.

Thinking of this, Zhao Dangshi suddenly remembered another thing, that is, the news that Li Zicheng intended to go south to Hanzhong Mansion that he learned a few days ago. It is not certain whether this news is true or not, but once Li Zicheng really comes to Hanzhong, the situation in the entire Shaanxi and the fate of Zhao Ying will surely undergo earth-shaking changes. However, now, Zhao Dangshi could not foresee whether the consequences of this matter would be good or bad for Zhao Ying. This kind of thing is not mature enough to be put on the table to discuss with the generals and strategists.

With a lot of thoughts, Zhao Dangshi looked at the stone steps under the hall and was stunned, and a half-kneeling soldier in front of him was reporting some matters to Wang Laixing's department who stayed in the city, but he didn't listen to it at all. After the soldier finished speaking, he didn't see Zhao Dangshi's reaction, and he was a little uneasy, Xu Hui waved his hand, signaling him to retreat, and then turned to Zhao Dangshi and said: "Zhangpan, when you enter the city at the right time, there is something unusual." ”

"Huh?" Zhao Dangshi raised his head and quickly thought back, "What are you talking about Xiong Wanjian?" He, Xu Hui, and Hou Dagui were not careless, and they all noticed Xiong Wanjian's state of depression.

Hou Dagui coughed and said: "The soul surnamed Xiong is not possessed, and he does not have the spirit of the master of an army. On the contrary, it was the other two guys, who were alive and well. ”

Xu Hui nodded and said: "I see that those two people go straight to the palm plate, but they don't take Xiong Wanjian in their eyes at all, it's just that Xiong Wanjian was also a famous fierce person in his early years, and he actually behaved like this, thinking of only one possibility......"

Zhao Dangshi knew what he meant, and knocked lightly on the table: "The actual ruler in the city is not Xiong Wanjian, but those two people?" ”

Xu Hui shook his head and said, "I don't think so." Although the two of them took the initiative, they still lacked confidence in their conversations, and there was nothing outstanding, and with the two of them, I am afraid that they would not be able to restrain Xiong Wanjian. ”

Zhao Dangshi raised his eyebrows at this time: "What do you mean, behind these two people, there is another person who can control the whole city?" Speaking of this, he suddenly frowned, "Oh, I remembered, Ye Bushu told me earlier that there is a well-known person under Wu Dading. I was so busy with military affairs that I didn't care......"

Xu Hui nodded and said, "You can find Pang Jinming and ask." "I don't accept the two duties of personal security and intelligence gathering, but the content of these two positions is far apart, and there is a tendency to diverge. At present, the chief Zhou Wenhe is in charge of the personal guards, and the person in charge of intelligence collection is Pang Jinming, the head of the hundred.

Pang Jinming quickly trotted to the court. Before he came, he was assigning a night break to the whole city to collect information and understand the situation, as is customary, when he was suddenly approached and confused.

Zhao Dangshi briefly asked Pang Jinming two sentences, Pang Jinming had a good memory, and blurted out: "My subordinates remember that Wu Dading's military division is called Chang Zeyu, which is quite famous. ”

Chang Zeyu is a person who is more familiar with the more senior Lao Kou. Zhao Dangshi didn't know much about this person because his status was too low earlier, and there was no big movement among Chang Zeyu's small and medium-sized rogues in recent years. Hou Dagui is different, he forcibly crossed the Yellow River and attacked the ashes of Henan, and he sharpened his head and wanted to drill into the upper layer of the Liukou Group, so he naturally knew Chang Zeyu very well.

There is no need for Pang Jinming to say more, Hou Dagui said the information about Chang Zeyu in one breath, and the information is far more complete than Pang Jinming knows. Pang Jinming could only stand there, very embarrassed.

Xu Hui listened to Hou Dagui's introduction, and said to Zhao Dangshi: "In charge, there is no doubt that this Chang Zeyu is the main control of Baocheng behind his back." From this point of view, it is very likely that driving away Wu Dading is also a secret plot by this person, and Xiong Wanjian is a puppet who was used as a signboard by him and supported. ”

Hou Dagui pouted and said: "Since this person has real power, why don't you see this person greet you at the city gate?" ”

Xu Hui didn't answer, and Zhao Dangshi said to himself: "Does this person have something unspeakable, or does he have other plans?" ”

Hou Dagui said with a smile: "Just these wrecks in the city, no matter how much you plot, what can you do with us?" It's not that I blow it, just because I don't collect dozens of people at night and rush out of the city, and the bean sprouts in Baocheng can't stop it. ”

This is not unreasonable, the main force of the Zhao camp and Zhang Miao's hands have entered the city, even if the establishment is incomplete and the body is exhausted, but if it really wants to catch fire, the rest of the martial arts camp in Baocheng can only have a fifty percent chance of winning at most. Moreover, Baocheng should have the intention of harming each other, and Zu Dabi is the best opportunity when he is there, so he doesn't have to wait until this time. What Chang Zeyu was thinking, Zhao Dangshi couldn't figure it out.

If you can't figure it out, it's better not to think about it, Zhao Dangshi already has countless things in front of him that need to be solved urgently, and he doesn't have time to study such details. When night fell, he was about to go through all the military affairs he had just heard about with Hou and Xu again, so he broke up and rested.

What did he come to do?

Zhao Dangshi was stunned, asked about the situation, and learned that Song Houzhen only brought two companions with him, so he let him in, Hou and Xu Fu returned to their seats and sat down left and right.

Song Hou really went to the court, but he was still holding a delicate red box in his hand. When he saw Zhao Dangshi, he bowed first, then raised the box above his head, and said respectfully: "I am very ashamed of not being able to catch the wind for the general in time." Hereby present a great gift, I hope to be stored! ”

"What's the big gift in a small box?" Zhao Dangshi, Hou Dagui, and Xu Hui all wondered about themselves, but looking at Song Houzhen's resolute expression, it seemed extremely solemn and not hypocritical. They even began to speculate whether the box contained agate beads that were seen once in a hundred years or the golden mother crane top that was difficult to find in the world.

Pang Jinming went down to the hall to take the box and carefully brought it to Zhao Dangshi. Under the puzzled gaze of everyone, the small red box opened, but inside, there was nothing but an ordinary to simple wine glass.

"This ...... Is it a treasure gift? Zhao Dangshi picked up the wine glass with two fingers, looked left and right, and wanted to see some clues, but he couldn't see anything unusual about it.

"Yes, that's a great gift!" Song Hou was really honest, and his eyes did not dodge at all.