After passing through Danzhou, you will enter the mountainous area. The road was quiet, and not even a pedestrian could be seen. Dozens of miles of road were uninhabited, and it was not until the afternoon of the next day that I saw a small village with three families.

Liu Ji looked at the sky and said to Ma Di: "Let's rest here." Tomorrow we should be in Pak Anju. When we got there, we replenished some food and grass and moved on. Before leaving, Du Taiwei said that he should get to Yuzhou as soon as possible. ”

Ma Di said: "It's okay." This is the homesick ridge, and it is the new pavilion post over the mountain. ”

Liu Jidao: "Today's striker should go to the Worulai Pavilion, not far from Bei'anzhou City." I don't know if the Bei'an Prefecture guard knows that we are coming. ”

Ma Di said: "Naturally, I know. There is a stagecoach in the new building, and the people there naturally went to inform the state early. ”

The two men gossiped, dismounted together, and went outside the village.

The three families in this village make a living by hunting, and when there are many people on the road, they also do the inn business. From Yelu Hongji to the south, business travel here has been cut off, and there are almost no people for half a year. They have to walk dozens of miles to buy daily necessities.

When they arrived at the house at the entrance of the village, the soldiers came forward with an old man and said, "Captain, when the people in the village saw the army coming, the young and strong people all hid in the mountains, leaving only a few old people. ”

Liu Ji said to the old man: "Dare to ask the old man's surname? We are the army of the Great Song Dynasty, bring our own food, and do not rob you. ”

The old man looked a little panicked, and saluted: "Back to the official, little Liu Wen, the people in the village call me Mrs. Liu." ”

Liu Ji smiled: "We have the same surname." Don't panic, we'll rest with you overnight and do it early tomorrow morning. Live in your house, and they will give you the money for the house. Look at you here, a room is worth 20 yuan, okay? ”

Liu Wen said: "Official, there have been no pedestrians here for half a year, what's the use of asking for money?" If you give it, it is better to give a small amount of salt. We didn't go out of the mountains for many days, and we were very short of salt here. ”

Liu Jidao: "It's okay, we marched with salt, but there is no shortage of it." By the way, ours is Da Song fine salt, but not coarse salt, I heard that the price in Khitan is not low. When I leave tomorrow, I will give you five catties of salt as a thank you. ”

Liu Wen listened to the gratitude of a thousand thanks, and together with his own soldiers, he went to clean up the house where Liu Ji lived.

Watching Liu Wen leave, Liu Ji sighed: "Last year's battle in Youzhou, it seems that the Khitan people have made a lot of achievements. In such a small mountain village, when the army came, the young man hid out early. It must be that the Khitans were strong and strong, and the people were afraid. ”

Ma Di said: "What the captain said is true. The 400,000 army went south, and there were hundreds of thousands of signed troops in Youzhou, how many young people remained? The vicinity of Zhongjing Dading Mansion is fine, and the rest of the states in the middle province are also suffering a lot of losses, and this year is sad. ”

Liu Ji nodded and looked at the surrounding scenery. It was late February, the weather was getting warmer, and new leaves were growing on the trees. The scenery in this mountain is good, but it is too remote and life is not convenient.

When they arrived at the grass house, they sat down under the big tree, and the soldiers made tea, and Liu Ji and Ma Di drank tea together.

While the two were gossiping, a fast horse rushed from the north. When he arrived nearby, the knight dismounted, crossed his hand in front of Liu Ji and said, "Report to the captain, the forward Mo Tan has gone to the front and lies in the pavilion." Liu Ren'an, the governor of Khitan Bei'an Prefecture, and Zhao Denglu, the guard general, promised to dedicate the city and entered the camp of General Mo. ”

Liu Ji was overjoyed when he heard it: "Okay! Go and rest. Tomorrow morning, come with me to Pak Anju! ”

The knight sang his hand and left. Liu Ji said to Ma Di: "I thought that they would sacrifice the city until you arrived in Bei'anzhou, but I didn't expect them to do it today." In this way, things are much simpler. ”

Ma Di said: "I have already discussed, as long as the Song army arrives, I will sacrifice the city." You don't have to see me. ”

Liu Ji nodded. It seems that these Khitan guards saw the situation very clearly, knew that the end of the Khitan had come, and changed the door as soon as possible. Now take the initiative to donate the city, the Song Dynasty will definitely treat it well and can protect the family.

Unlike the Han family, which is close to the royal family, the three families of Ma, Liu, and Zhao are the Youzhou clan. Although there are many children of officials, they have always lived in Youzhou. After the First World War in Youzhou, the Song Dynasty did not target these three surnames, but only regarded them as ordinary people. got the news, and the children of the three families who were officials in the Khitan contacted and took the initiative to donate the city. It's too far, and I'm ready to return to my hometown secretly.

In the several states of Zhongjing Province, of course, the officials and generals are not all children of the three families. However, this place is close to Youzhou, and there are many people in the three of them who are officials here. After contacting, the Khitan generals who disagreed had already been dealt with, and the agreement naturally came together with the three families.

In Youzhou City, Du Zhongxiao and Fu Bi sat in the courtyard. On the small table in the middle, there was a plate of mutton, a few fruits, and the two of them drank idle wine.

After eating and drinking for a while, Fu Bi said: "But I didn't expect that the battle of Youzhou had just ended, and the captain was going to fight again." Now that I think about it, Yelu Hongji really didn't know what kind of madness he had, and he would suddenly go south with the army of the country. As a result, the elite of the first war was lost, and the situation is today. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "In our opinion, it is inconceivable that the Khitans are going south. But in the eyes of the Khitan people, they are afraid that when they look at the Great Song Dynasty, they are still the same as before, as long as they are scared, they will have to offer money with both hands. Over the years, this dynasty has destroyed the Khitan and opened up the Western Regions, all of which are very easy. If you have a normal brain, you won't come to teaser the tiger's whiskers. But sometimes, some people don't think like this, and they can't figure it out even if they want to break their heads. ”

Yes, a normal person's thinking is that he can't understand how the Khitan could suddenly start a war with the Song army like death. And if you die, you really died, Youzhou was defeated in the first battle, and the entire Khitan Empire began to collapse.

The state is sometimes like this, it's like hysteria, and suddenly it's irrational. Just like Du Zhongxiao in his previous life, India once suddenly went to war with China, and the Chinese could not understand it. I just thought with my toes, this is a must-lose battle against India, why did it fight? However, India really fought, and it was defeated at the first touch.

Although the Song Dynasty has won consecutive battles over the years and has a very powerful army, it has never fought with the Khitan, and the Khitan is not afraid. There is no way, since the time of the Five Dynasties, the Khitan has had an advantage over the Central Plains, how many years. It's not that I haven't fought with the Song Dynasty, how many games did the Song Dynasty win?

After taking a sip of wine, Fu Bi said: "Yes, I just can't figure it out." When you go back to the court, I stayed in Youzhou and thought about last year's events, and the more I thought about it, the more incredible it became. To say that at the beginning, the Khitan felt that it could win, and it was reasonable. But when he arrived in Youzhou, he attacked Quyang and finally sent tens of thousands of people there. Then the battle was not won, we were strong and clear, the Khitan didn't even have anything to eat, or insisted on not withdrawing the army, what is the reason? ”

Du Zhongxiao said with a smile: "Xianggong, sometimes things just don't make sense. Things in this world, if everything is difficult to explain, it will be much simpler. We live in the world, and what we often deal with is actually things that don't make sense. ”

Fu Bi nodded: "That's what the captain said." The defeat of the Khitan is unreasonable. However, if they are defeated, it will be much easier for this dynasty to advance north and dominate the world. Otherwise, even if the military strength of this dynasty is strong, it will not dare to start a war with the Khitan easily. ”

Yes, with the thoughts of the officials in the DPRK and China, the Song Dynasty certainly did not dare to start a war with the Khitan easily. Except for a few officials, who would dare to touch this powerful country?