Faced with Mulan's question, Zhao Junsheng shook his head and said, "Who knows, I don't want to face Liu Song opposite!" ”

"Why? Because Liu Song is a Han court, and you are also a Han Chinese? Mulan turned her head to look at Zhao Junsheng and asked.

"This is only one aspect, there are other reasons, first of all, Liu Song is good at defending the city, Wei soldiers and Wei generals are not good at attacking the city, otherwise the Great Wei capital has been founded for more than 30 years, why is it still only fighting to the north of Henan? Now even the northern part of Henan has been robbed back! ”

Zhao Junsheng said this, looked at Hua Mulan and said: "Don't look at it, it is easy for you to lead the army to fight Huaishuo Town, Woye Town, and Wuzhou Pass, on the one hand, the northern city is not tall and strong enough; On the other hand, neither the defenders nor the defenders are good at defending the city! If you are asked to lead an army to attack the city guarded by the Song army, I can guarantee that you will be unable to move an inch in front of the city guarded by the Song army, and sigh with joy! ”

"It is true that our Han people are inferior to the Xianbei people, inferior to the Rouran people, and even inferior to other barbarians in terms of cavalry, but when it comes to training foot soldiers, defending and besieging cities, there is no other in the world!"

Hua Mulan was quite worried when she heard this: "What if the emperor conscripts the two of us to attack Henan with the army?" ”

Zhao Junsheng thought for a while and said to Mulan: "I am responsible for guarding Wuchuan Town, and the imperial court should not easily transfer me away, even if I have to be transferred, I must be assigned a suitable position in advance." As for you, if the emperor summons you, you will refuse on the grounds that you are still in mourning, and the emperor will not be able to say anything."

As Zhao Junsheng expected, at the end of that year, after he built three forts on the edge of the desert, the imperial court really sent troops to Henan on a large scale.

This winter was particularly cold, and even though Zhao Junsheng and Hua Mulan had made a lot of preparations in advance, many cattle and sheep still froze to death.

It was also the cold weather that caused a large area of the Yellow River to freeze and freeze, and the cavalry of the Northern Wei Dynasty made a large-scale sortie to step across the ice and enter Henan.

The Southern Dynasties did not receive any news in advance, they did not deploy many troops on the south bank of the Yellow River, and the supplies were also cut off because of the heavy snow, and with the entry of the Northern Wei army, with the cooperation of the fine work sent in advance, Luoyang and Tiger Prison were successively breached.

Subsequently, the Northern Wei army under the personal command of Tuoba Jian contained the slip platform and besieged Xingyang.

After receiving the news, the Southern Dynasty immediately ordered Zhi Yanzhi to lead an army of 100,000 reinforcements, but because the southern soldiers were intolerant of the severe cold, the marching speed was slow, and the reinforcements could not arrive for a long time, resulting in Xingyang and Huatai also being lost one after another.

When the ice and snow covered the earth, Yan Zhi was not afraid of fighting a field battle with the Wei army, and the thick snow on the ground delayed the cavalry's ability to act, and when Yan Zhi learned that the main force of the Wei army was in the area of Liang County, he immediately waved his army westward.

But the weather did not fulfill people's wishes, and before he could lead his army to attack, the weather turned out to be clear, which was not good news for Zhihiko, if the ice and snow melted, the roads were muddy, and once the battle was engaged, it would be a disaster for the infantry.

To Yanzhi immediately led the army to retreat, collected ships in the area of Surabaya, quickly retreated south, and the Wei cavalry pursued all the way, so that the Southern Dynasty army had to abandon a large amount of grain and grass, and the large area south of the Yellow River, which was subdued by the Southern Dynasty last year, fell into the hands of the Northern Wei again.

Soon, Tuoba Jian's army attack was blocked, under the strong walls of the Song army in the Southern Dynasty, the cavalry of the Northern Wei Dynasty was head-wrenched and bleeding heavy losses, Tuoba Jian had to lead the army to retreat to Hebei, but the captured land of Henan did not give up easily, and still sent troops to defend it.

On the fifth day of the third month of 432 AD, the emperor sent someone to Zhao Junsheng to send an order to Pingcheng to meet Wuchuan Town, and the military affairs were taken over by the Marquis of Wuchuan and the general Huwei.

Zhao Junsheng took the holy decree and said to Jia Zhou, the eunuch Xiaohuangmen who came to announce the decree: "Father-in-law Jia, please come into the lobby to speak!" ”

Jia Zhou bowed and arched his hand: "The general doesn't need to be so polite, our family is the henchman of Zhongcao Supervisor, if the general has any questions, just ask our family if you know everything, everything you say, please!" ”

Zhao Junsheng and Hua Mulan walked into the lobby with Jia Zhou to serve tea and talk.

Zhao Junsheng asked: "Does Gonggong Jia know why the emperor suddenly summoned me to Beijing?" ”

Jia Zhou said in a low voice: "As far as our family knows, the emperor is very likely to let the general out of Youzhou!" ”

"Out of the town of Youzhou? Is there no one available in the imperial court? How did the emperor think of Diaoben General to go to Youzhou? ”

"We heard that the emperor seems to be intent on mobilizing troops against Beiyan, completely solving the problem of the northeast border, and transferring the general to Youzhou, probably to prepare for this matter!"

Zhao Junsheng asked someone to prepare a little meaning for Jia Zhou, and took him and his entourage to the post house to stay, and sent it to the door with Mulan.

Zhao Junsheng turned his head and found that Hua Mulan was looking at her with tears in her eyes, and hurriedly said, "What's the matter?" What are you crying about? ”

Hua Mulan was dragged into the town guard mansion by Zhao Junsheng's involvement, and the two came to the lobby to sit down.

"Someone is here to invite the Jade Interpretation Daoist!"

"It's the general!"

At this time, Zhao Junsheng felt that he had to find someone to ask for an idea, at least he had to listen to the advice of the strategist.

"Don't cry, if you cry again, you're about to cry like a cat, it's not that you can't meet, I'm just going to Youzhou to take up a post, and what Jia Zhou said may not be reliable!" Zhao Junsheng kept comforting.

Mulan sobbed and said, "Youzhou is so far away and I don't know when we will meet again!" ”

Zhao Junsheng stretched out his hand to wipe away the tears on Mulan's face: "Even if what Jia Zhou said is true, the emperor transferred me over, but only to prepare for the attack on Beiyan, and when the war is over, I will come back!" Even if I can't go back to Wuchuan Town, I can write to the emperor and ask for us to be transferred together and let us get married! ”

When Zhao Junsheng said this, he felt that he was a little lacking in confidence, how could it be so easy to transfer at the level of a general? The court was not opened by their family.

Hua Mulan wiped a handful of tears and immediately said: "I'll write to the emperor now, and when Jia Zhou leaves, let him take it and hand it over to the emperor!" ”

Zhao Junsheng grabbed Mulan: "Don't be stupid, you're not a child again, why are you still like a child?" Wait for Dongfang Chen to come and hear his opinion! ”

Soon, Dongfang Cheng, who was wearing a Taoist robe, walked in: "I've seen two generals!" ”

Zhao Junsheng and Hua Mulan got up: "Dao Chief, don't be polite, please take a seat!" ”

Dongfang Chen made a joke and knelt down after a low table next to him.

Hua Mulan glanced at Zhao Junsheng, and Zhao Junsheng said to Dongfang Chen: "Emperor Daochang sent a messenger to summon me to the capital to meet Wuchuan Town, and the military affairs were handed over to Mulan to preside, there is news that the emperor wants to attack Beiyan, so he transferred me out of the town and Youzhou, I don't know what the chief thinks about this matter?" ”

Dongfang Chen touched his beard, thought for a moment, and said to Zhao Junsheng and Hua Mulan: "Poor Dao thinks this is a good thing for the two generals!" ”

"What do you mean by that?" Mulan asked.

Dongfang Chen analyzed the two: "The two generals are both generals of the imperial court, and the imperial court let the two generals guard Wuchuan together, which is nothing in the short term, but if it is too long, the emperor will inevitably be uneasy, after all, the two generals have a marriage contract, and sooner or later they will be a family, even if the emperor trusts the two generals, it is inevitable that there will be villains framing them, no matter what the emperor is for, separating the two generals, this is a good thing for the two generals, the emperor knows the practice, and has already given the two generals to avoid suspicion!" ”

Hua Mulan frowned and asked, "But if Brother Junsheng goes to Youzhou, I will have less chance to meet him, how can I get married in the future?" After getting married, you can't always have one in the east and the other in the west, right? ”

"This······ A problem indeed! However, in terms of poor roads, the general still waits for the mourning period to pass before making plans, after all, the emperor can revenge the general's affection, but the general himself must insist on not marrying during the mourning period, otherwise the general will be impeached by the imperial historians! ”

Zhao Junsheng and Hua Mulan looked at each other, "For now, it can only be like this, you can stay in Wuchuan Town for the time being, our family business is here, if there is no one to take care of it, sooner or later it will be taken away."

Two days later, Zhao Junsheng and Jia Zhou set off for Pingcheng together, and Hua Mulan and a few henchmen reluctantly sent them ten miles away.

"Don't worry, after I get to Pingcheng and meet the emperor, I will soon send someone to send you a letter, you take care of our home!"

Zhao Junsheng's words lifted Mulan's spirits, yes, this is her and Zhao Junsheng's home.

"Well, you must remember to write in time!"

Zhao Junsheng took Gao Xu and Cao Jiao and left Gao Xu behind, Pei Jin also followed him in terms of management and logistics, Pei Jin is a good hand, Zhao Junsheng relies on him more, fortunately, he has cultivated several capable subordinates in Wuchuan Town to help Mulan.

No matter how reluctant she is, in the end, she still has to separate, and Hua Mulan held back her tears and watched Zhao Junsheng gradually move away with a team of dozens of people.

Ten days later, Zhao Junsheng and Jia Zhou arrived in Pingcheng, and he was summoned by Emperor Tuoba Jian the next day, but the summoning location was in the imperial garden.

At this time, when the flowers in the imperial garden were in full bloom, Zhao Junsheng felt that this should be a good sign.

"Your Majesty!"

Tuoba Jian raised his hand: "Flat!" ”

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

Tuoba Jian waved his hand and retreated, beckoned to Zhao Junsheng left and right, signaling him to follow, and said as he walked: "Zhao Qing, I summoned you this time to move your position, I want to dominate the world, I must first unify the north, but there are still remnants of Hu Xia's strength in the north, as well as Bei Liang and Beiyan, and even Rouran are our strong enemies, I plan to solve Beiyan first, what do you think?" ”

Zhao Junsheng said: "Your Majesty is far-sighted, and it is not difficult to solve the Northern Yan with the current national strength of our Great Wei, but the Northern Yan is located in the northeast, the climate is severe in winter, and if you want to move troops, you should choose June and July!" ”

Tuoba Jian smiled: "Qing and I thought of going together, and the ministers of the imperial court also suggested it!" But today's Youzhou Thorn Shi Du Chao ······ You also know who he is, when he sent troops to Beiyan, he was still a little worried about letting him stay in Youzhou! ”

Of course, Zhao Junsheng knew that Du Chao was Tuoba Tao's uncle, and he also supported Tuoba Pi Tuoba Jian's men and horses to besiege Yuyang, when the defenders in Yuyang City couldn't wait for reinforcements, and ran out of food, grass and city defense equipment, Du Chao opened the city gate first and surrendered.

At that time, Tuoba Jian wanted to kill Du Chao, but he couldn't kill Du Chao, after all, he was a role model, killing Du Chao would bring great obstacles to Tuoba Jian's subjugation of cities all over Hebei, and in the end, not only did he not kill Du Chao, but also named him the assassin of Youzhou and the king of Yangping.

Zhao Junsheng deliberately pretended to be puzzled and asked: "Does Your Majesty want the minister to go to Youzhou?" ”

"You guessed right, I want you to be the assassin of this Youzhou!"