"General Zhao, ten miles ahead is Bianliang!"

Yang Zaixing galloped back, and his voice came far away in the open wilderness. This voice caused a commotion in the marching column. Both officers and non-commissioned officers were talking to each other, some with confused and incredulous expressions on their faces: "Bianliang! ”

"Lord Zhao, shall we recover Bianliang?" Luo Xianshi asked.

Everything was as Zhao Xingde expected, the Song army marched from Yingchang Mansion to Bianliang, and there were almost no major battles. As soon as the cavalry scouts encountered a small group of Liao troops, the enemy troops fled like frightened birds, and the infantry soldiers who followed the large group of men and horses were never encountered by the Liao army, and they walked for more than 300 miles for ten days before they reached Bianliang. The great work of recovering the national capital was simply too easy for many people.

"Yes, this should be Liang Yuan." Zhao Xingde nodded with a heavy heart.

"This is actually Liang Yuan," Luo Xianshi exclaimed, "I once watched the sea and it was difficult to make water, but Liang Yuan was always the Liang Garden of the village?" Liang Garden is the most prosperous place in the suburbs of Bianjing, it is said that the radius is more than 300 miles, full of pavilions and pavilions, strange fruits and trees. Now as far as the eye can see, there is a barren and decadent scene, and the ugly traces of ashes everywhere are shocking. Pavilions and pavilions do not exist one out of ten, bricks and stones, wood was demolished as early as when attacking Bianliang, the pines and cypresses in the garden, the sycamore trees were successively cut down by the Liao army and the nearby people for fuel, the original rare birds and beasts were hunted for food, and the flowers and trees were also ruined to the point of vanishing. In the dilapidated garden, teams of soldiers were busy going back and forth. Because of the proximity to the water source, the scouts chose this place as the camp site, and Zhao Xingde only found out after he arrived. After the camp was divided, in addition to the sentry squad, the hungry soldiers began to hurriedly bury pots and cook food, and cut down a lot of the remaining trees in the garden.

"It's here," Ouyang Shan also nodded: "At the beginning, one of my brothers from the Gongma Sect often came here to drink and have fun. He carefully scanned the landscape, trying to imagine what it would have been like in the old days, but finally gave up. Ouyang Shan untied the neckline of the leather armor and took a deep breath of the cold air, his face seemed to be covered with a layer of frost, and the eagerness to regain Bianliang seemed to be a lot cooler.

"Liang Yuan is already like this," Luo Xianshi shook his head, "I wonder what will happen to Bianliang City?" ”

"Within a radius of dozens of miles, there is no trace of the Liao army." Yang Zaixing said, "In Bianliang City, I have sent a team of white envoys. ”

"It's still early," Zhao Xingde stood up and said to the generals, "I'll go in with General Yang and have a look." ”

"Be careful, sir!"

Zhao Xingde nodded, took the reins from his own soldiers, turned over the saddle and got on the horse, lightly clamped the horse's belly, and the war horse had to run to the north. This road from Nanxunmen to Liangyuan, he has traveled back and forth with Chen Dong and others many times, and the road is still the same, but the scenery on both sides is very different. Yang Zaixing led more than 50 cavalry to follow behind Zhao Xingde, but he was quite interested, pointing along the way, and only quieted down when he arrived at the gate of Bianliang City. The tall and majestic Nanxun Gate was only a black and slimy city gate hole, and when the cavalry galloped in, the people fled to both sides of the road in horror, and some even knelt on the ground, and in a panic knocked over the basket, and some wild vegetable rhizomes stained with soil were exposed. Someone looked at Zhao Xingde and the others, their eyes full of doubts. Someone squatted on the ground, holding the basket in both hands, not daring to look up at all.

This situation made Zhao Xingde's heart sour, he slowed down his mount, and said in a low voice: "How much grain and grass is there in the camp?" "And ten days' rations." Zhao Xingde actually knew about this big number, but he asked many times: "Is there a place nearby where I can earn some grain and grass?" Yang Zaixing was stunned for a moment, and said with a wry smile: "The Khitan people are very clean, and the people only have wild vegetables, and it is not easy to find vegetable roots near Bianliang City." The two of them saw a dark eye, and the mount stepped into the deep city gate cave, and after a while, they saw the light of the sky, however, the scene in front of them was even darker than Zhao Xingde's mood. The city of Bianliang is a dilapidated scene, with bustling shops on both sides of the street, and now ten rooms and nine empty, and occasionally you can see the figure of the ragged and withered people, like thin rats in the garbage push. Like the people outside the city gates, these Song people either hid behind the wall in panic when they saw the cavalry approaching, or they fell to their knees trembling, not daring to look up.

Zhao Xingde let out a long sigh and looked ahead, his eyes suddenly condensed, and a cold light flowed out.

"General Zhao," Yang Zaixing noticed something was wrong and asked, "Is there any movement?" ”

"No," Zhao Xingde pointed with his horsewhip ahead, "there was originally an iron tower there, and you can overlook the whole city when you climb up." Unexpectedly, it was ruined by the Liao. He shook his head and sighed, "It's not just the iron tower, here used to be full of pavilions and pavilions in the city, and it was rare to see the sight of emptiness, but now as far as the eye can see, I can see the city wall to the north." At this time, an old man nearby heard that Zhao Xingde's accent was different, he raised his head, his eyes were full of surprise, and he staggered and followed Zhao Xingde's mount for a while.

"Master Jun," the old man hesitated for a long time before he had the courage to ask, "Are you an official soldier?" ”

"Exactly," Yang Zaixing replied loudly, "We are the officials and soldiers of the Great Song Dynasty." He glanced at Zhao Xingde, and seeing that he had no objection, he said loudly, "So that you know that the imperial army Yingchang Mansion defeated the Liao, and the southeast camp was deployed, and Lord Zhao Xingde has led his troops to be stationed outside the city to pacify the Gyeonggi Road." ”

"The officials and soldiers of the imperial court ......" The old man stood on the spot like a lightning strike, and after a while, his legs were limp and he knelt on the ground, kowtowing and crying. The officers and soldiers are finally here! ...... The officers and soldiers are here! And his snot and tears welled up, and he was like madness. The old man cried and shouted, his voice was hoarse, and the listener was saddened, Zhao Xingde stopped his mount and looked down at the old man. People kept coming out of the dilapidated houses next to them, standing cautiously around the Song cavalry. Most of these people are old and weak women and children, they don't cry like the old man, but the grief and pain contained in their eyes are no less than him, and the glimmer of hope in countless despairs stings Zhao Xingde like countless steel needles, he frowned and took a deep breath to calm the pain in his chest.

"Lord Zhao, ...... this?"

"Starting tomorrow morning, a porridge shack will be opened outside the city to prepare soup kitchens."

Zhao Xingde said in a low voice, suddenly became alert, his eyes swept over the crowd, and found that behind the old and weak women and children, there were several vicious-looking people snooping. "Yes!" Yang Zaixing just agreed loudly, and Zhao Xingde said again: "There is not enough food and grass, and you can't raise prisoners, first clear a field from Nanxunmen. Law. His words were soft, but extremely clear, and the people around him could hear them clearly, Yang Zaixing's face changed slightly, he raised his head and glanced around, and said loudly: "Obey!" ”

Zhao Xingde nodded, and didn't look at the few people who were busy shrinking their heads, and gently urged the horse forward, and Yang Zaixing followed closely behind him with a few cavalry. After learning that this was the official army of the Great Song Dynasty, the bold people followed them, and some stretched out their hands and begged: "The military master is good." Although some did not speak, there was a begging in their eyes.

Although Zhao Xingde has a little dry food, it is a drop in the bucket, and if he takes it out at this time, he is afraid that not only will he not be able to save people, but he will harm people. The army reined in their horses and walked slowly, and when the people saw that they could not get food, some were disappointed and dispersed, and some joined in, and after more than 50 horses, they were always followed by more than 100 people. In the ruins on both sides of the road, there are constantly people haunting, without exception are so thin that only skin and bones remain, staggering, withered faces are expressionless, most of the people in the city are collecting dry wood, some are tearing down the doors and windows of the house, and even dragging the wooden pillars, trusses and so on back as firewood. After a hellish winter that froze to death countless people, the people were desperately collecting firewood, in fact, in addition to the looting and arson of the Liao soldiers, most of the remaining houses in Bianliang City were demolished by the people who collected firewood.

"General Yang," Zhao Xingde was silent for a long time, and then said, "There are three things I want you to do. ”

"What?" Yang Zaixing looked gloomily at the people who were following, and said casually, "Lord Zhao just orders." Although he listened to Zhao Xingde's account, his military status was from the Zhenguo Army, so Zhao Xingde has always been a little polite to him. Yang Zaixing is not as respectful to Zhao Xingde as Lu Mingyu, Luo Xianshi and others.

"Seeing that the midwinter is coming, please send someone to Hedong, ask Yang Xianggong and Zhe Xianggong, for the sake of the remnants of more than 100,000 people in Beijing, to transport a batch of wintering charcoal to Bianliang, Zhao is grateful." Zhao Xingde shook his head, "Otherwise, if you survive this winter, I'm afraid that Bianliang City will be demolished into a blank field." This is the first one. "In the peaceful years, most of the coal in Bianliang came from Hedong. Zhao Xingde looked up at the north. This request for Shi Tan is half a persecution of the situation, and half a test of the attitude of Yang and the two marshals. Hedong and Henan have a tendency to die and have cold teeth, and if Yang Zhe and the two marshals understand, they can be reliable allies.

"Yes!" Yang Zaixing readily agreed.

"The second matter, please send someone to escort my envoy back to Ezhou." Zhao Xingde's vision changed, and he said slowly, "Please ask the Prime Minister's Mansion to quickly send military rations, as well as food for Henan." If this matter is delayed, hundreds of thousands of people will starve to death this winter, and it must not be delayed because of the party dispute between the DPRK and China. Otherwise," he paused and said expressionlessly, "Otherwise, I would have to borrow grain from Xia Guo." Or, "Zhao Xingde turned his head and glanced at the startled Yang Zaixing, and then at the people who were timid, like frightened rabbits, following behind the horse," or rather, in dozens of prefectures and counties in Gyeonggi and Henan, millions of people had to borrow grain from the Xia State. ”

"Lord Zhao...... You? ”

Yang Zaixing hesitated slightly, nodded and said, "Since the adults are out of the way, the last general will obey the order!" ”