The next day, Su Shi rushed to see him off, only to see Zhao Xing with a full hundred strong men on board, these hundred strong men are all dressed tightly, if there is a modern person present, he will find that the clothing is actually equivalent to modern training clothes. The tight-fitting jacket made of canvas has countless pockets sewn all over the body, and the shiny copper buckles make the clothes luxurious and stylish.

Imitated the color of the Song Dynasty military uniform, the jacket of this clothing is red, and the pants are black, but the red is more vivid than the ordinary military uniform, and the black is more mellow. With a Fan Yang hat, it looks majestic and bullish.

Sending Zhao Xing to board the canal boat, Chao Buzhi introduced to Su Shi: "When I came last year, I quietly told the news of the transfer of the departed person, and since then, the departed person has begun to recruit volunteers. It is said that he prescribed two clothes for each season of the year; The armor and weapons needed were provided free of charge by him; The spoils of war belong entirely to themselves, and they are paid ten times a month.

This cloth armor is the configuration of combat equipment, and I heard that whoever joins will get two bodies for each person. And many of them went for this cloth. I heard that someone did an experiment, after this cloth armor penetrated the water, the sword stabbed and shot hard, some people said, this cloth armor is afraid that it will be sold on the market. This is just one thing, I heard that their backpacks are full of good things, and those who have seen them say that those things are rare. ”

Hearing Chao Buzhi say this, Su Shi recalled that when those soldiers boarded the ship, they carried a large bag as high as one person - in fact, it was a modern large donkey passenger backpack - and the bulging bag contained in it, which made Su Shi worry about it, can he bear such a big package on a long-distance trip.

Chao Buzhi shared the same concerns, adding: "Speaking of it, leaving people in Mizhou is the most popular. As soon as the recruitment order came out, more than 200 people came to Mizhou, and there were only twenty or thirty people in Hangzhou. As for Yangzhou...... The drunken gold fan has already softened the muscles and bones of Yangzhou people. With such good conditions and such majestic clothes, only a dozen applicants came.

Those who boarded the ship just now were all selected. It is said that they were trained for more than a month, and the strongest 100 people remained. The rest rushed to Bianliang in advance on canal boats. I heard that there is also a fleet of cargo ships, which has arrived at Biankou in advance, where the goods on the ship are reversed into horse-drawn carriages and are being transferred to Gyeongju. These people can walk, but they don't know if they can finish it. This is going to Gyeongju. Far away! ”

Su Shi Chao Buzhi said goodbye to Zhao Xing on the dock, and the next day, Chen Buqun arrived with a few family members, and when he heard Zhao Xing leave, he hurriedly took a canal boat to chase all the way, helpless. Zhao Xing chose all the fast boats, but Chen Buqun not only failed to catch up, but the distance between the two sides became farther and farther......

The road to Gyeongju was very far away, and Zhao Xing led the team to enter Bianliang, because this team was too eye-catching, and he was afraid that the group of idle officials in Bianliang City would come to find trouble again, so he got off the boat at Yingtianfu (now Shangqiu) in Nanjing. Then we started hiking.

can relive the donkey career again in Da Song. Zhao Xing felt very comfortable, and led this group of teams through the streets and alleys arrogantly. Walked out of the Daimyo Mansion Castle and came to the outside of the city. Zhao Xing summoned the 100 carefully selected actors, pointed to the road ahead and said: "This is going to Gyeongju, we have to go all the way, some of you have fought in battle, some have never been on the battlefield, today we will start our marching career, who can tell me what are the three most important things in the march?" ”

A utility from Michigan replied, "Scout! ”

Cheng Shuang replied: "Guide! ”

Shuai Fan replied: "I think it's Sinan (compass) and the map and guide!" ”

Shuai Fan's appearance in the team was an accident, originally he was supposed to follow Wan Jiyong and go to Gyeongju slowly with the caravan transporting supplies, but he heard that this trip was going to pass through the Central Plains, and he insisted on walking with everyone after browsing countless scenery along the way.

Shuai Fan is also a rare big man, his physique is stronger than the average Song person, he insisted on walking, Zhao Xing hesitated, and then agreed.

"Tourists may not need scouts when traveling, but marching is definitely needed, you are all right, but there is one thing that you don't say: hot tea. From this day on, we use this road as a classroom to learn how to march. Let's talk about scouts first: Cheng Shuang, you took a soldier to go forward as a scout for the whole army today, how do you plan to arrange your itinerary? ”

Cheng Shuang thought for a moment and replied: "First hire a guide from the local area, and then lead the whole army forward, estimate the itinerary, about the time when the whole army will go to noon to eat, look for roadside restaurants, and arrange food and lodging for the whole army...... The teacher will see what to add. ”

"I think very carefully, I will add a few points, first of all, the guide. We can't rely on just one guide, because one guide can point the wrong way, so the guide should be at least double, preferably three. In this era, everyone has never traveled far, so the guide should adopt a segmentation system. Take a marching segment as a guide, from morning to noon, from noon to evening. In this way, you can hire a guide in sections, and you can return home on the day after the guide leads the way, so the price must not be high. And he is guiding the way at the doorstep, and there is no mistake.

In addition, we have a map in our hands, but it is impossible to mark the path in great detail on the map, so at every fork in the road, the responsibility of the scout is to leave a guide. What if there are too many forks in the road and the number of scouts is not enough, hire a local, write a paper sign, let the locals hold it, and wait for the adults to catch up and pay the people who hold the sign. In this way, the front team and the back pair are only half a day apart, and the people holding the signs do not need to wait too long, and the people who are back to the back have guidance, which saves a lot of time to inquire about the road.

In addition, there are more than 100 people behind us, all of them are adult strong men, and after walking for half a day, the amount of food must be very large, so we must find a big restaurant and let him prepare hot tea and hot rice in advance. Remember, it must be hot tea, and a long trip is most afraid of adapting to the water and soil, and a cup of hot tea can solve all these problems......

That's all I've got on for the time being, Judge, what do you add. ”

Shuai Fan pretended to ponder for a moment and replied, "Map, compass." Although the current map is not detailed, but thousands of miles down, you have to learn something, I suggest that everyone at each intersection take out the map to check, learn to use the map compass to identify the direction. ”

Zhao Xing nodded and agreed: "Yes, in the future, we will learn to mark on the map after every intersection we pass." After these 3,000 miles, all of us need to learn to read a map...... Come, I'll send you money first. This money is the cost of travel, and there are those who are left behind. Recuperate for a few days by yourself, follow behind slowly, catch up with us at home or catch up with us, whatever. ”

This group of people unscrupulously discussed the march on the roadside, and their costumes were particularly strange. had already attracted the attention of the officials of the Daimyo's Mansion, but Zhao Xing had been delayed for too long, and the officials had already called a large group of people and horses to surround them tremblingly.

The so-called large army of men and horses is 30 archers, they cautiously approached Zhao Xing's hundred people, and the official led by them just cleared his throat. Zhao Xing had already taken out the official letter in advance and showed it to the head of the official team: "Baowen Pavilion Bachelor, Cheng Lang, Shouhuanqing Roadside Invitation and Pacification Envoy, Quan Qingyang Festival Envoy (Zhizhou), Qingyang Regiment Training Envoy Zhao Zhao On the way to his post, I hope you will be tolerant." The head of the official team took the official letter and looked at it repeatedly, and asked curiously: "Why don't you go to the post station, the officials come and go, and there is a common practice for living in the post station......

The officials are talking about the rules of officialdom, during the tenure of the appointed officials. Passing through a certain place. The local magistrates were to give a share of the travel expenses and set up a banquet to entertain them. But Zhao Xing didn't go to any post office to register along the way, and now his tone is quite big: "What did you say?" I am Zhao Xing Zhao Liren, you can inquire, am I a person who is short of money? ”

After saying that, Zhao Xing beckoned and led everyone away. I can't stay in this place.

The officials looked at Zhao Xing's back, and it took a long time to react, and the head of the team muttered: "This lord is indeed not a person who is short of money, how can this equipment be a hundred and ten runs, and a hundred followers - tsk should have ten thousand." Zhao Liren, who is it? ”

The other one came up and asked curiously: "Zhao Liren, could it be a disciple of Su Shudi, the one who wrote "Farewell", if life is only as first seen, it is very Zhao Liren who has composed a few famous songs?!" ”

As soon as he said this, the head of the team came to his senses, and he shouted: "Ah Ye, didn't you kidnap Zhao Liren in the capital...... If it were him, would he really be worthy of such a luxurious retinue...... It's strange, why is everyone Liao not in the team, it can't be ......"

The team leaders thought that Zhao Xing had only spent tens of thousands of dollars to equip his troops, but he was wrong, if he saw the scene of Zhao Xing's troops entering Hedong Road, it was estimated that his jaw would fall in shock. After more than a month of continuous marching, Zhao Xing's team only had 81 people, but the remaining 81 people were all warriors.

The offensive of Western Xia in the past few years is the Hedong Road and the Yongxing Military Road, when entering the Hedong Road, it is equivalent to having entered the war zone, and not long after entering this war zone, Zhao Xing's team found a caravan, and they looked at Zhao Xing's team vigilantly approaching.

The Great Song Dynasty implemented bow and arrow control for the common people, but the border states were exceptional, such as Hedong Road near the border states, Yongxing Military Road, and Qinfeng Road, which forced villagers to hold bows and arrows, and the price of bows and crossbows was relatively expensive. For every crossbow held in the family, the imperial court gave a tax reduction of 2,000 wen per year, that is, two yuan. So entering this area means that people can legally wear swords, bows, and crossbows.

Because of the regulations of the imperial court, in this land, people who walk without bows and arrows and weapons are basically civilians or cheap slaves, and they don't have a crossbow on their waists to go out, and they are embarrassed to greet each other. On the opposite side of the caravan, everyone is armed with knives, guns and clubs, and many people are still showing off their crossbows in their hands - this is the sign of the upper class, and wielding crossbows in their hands in this year is just like wielding genuine LV leather bags in the hands of modern female white-collar workers, which is a top-level show-off.

Cheng Shuang, as the leader of the scout, walked into this group of armed businessmen and explained loudly to the other party: "Baowen Pavilion Bachelor, Cheng Lang, Shouhuanqing Roadside Invitation and Pacification Envoy, Quan Qingyang Festival Envoy, Qingyang Regiment Training Envoy Zhao On the way to the post, you don't need to panic, the road is facing the sky, each go all the way, please get out of the way." ”

After entering the Hedong Road, Zhao Xing's team could clearly feel the disaster that the war had brought to the people of Dawn, and in the past few years, the Western Xia had come to a routine robbery every year - no, according to the textbook, it was a routine ethnic integration. Leaving a devastated scene to the land of Hedong, the local people have no intention of farming, should be cultivated for a year, the final harvest may be "integrated" by the Tangut people, and it is possible to kidnap themselves to the Tangut as slaves, so the fields along the way are barren and walk on the road. The expressions of all the pedestrians are vigilant.

There were no horses to hire here, as all the horses were pulled by the military, so the scouts slowed down. The caravan did not negotiate in advance after eating. So they were very cautious and never lowered their bows and arrows.

Zhao Xing waved his hand. Just say two words: "Armor!" ”

After this order, 81 Song Dynasty rucksackmen put down their knapsacks from their shoulders, and then reached out to take out something in the knapsack, while several people crowded around Zhao Xing and put on armor for him. After the team finished putting on their armor, the caravan people invariably took a deep breath and let out a long hiss.

Appearing in front of everyone was a luxurious army, the first 3 tallest men were wearing a full set of Qingtang armor (plate metal hard armor), two of them were tall and still looked like a Song person, and the remaining one was the tallest one with ridiculous height. His arms were thicker than a man's thighs, and he couldn't grasp them with one hand, but the man was as black as a ball of coal, like a devil from hell, and only when he bared his teeth, he could see the teeth of the people of the white land.

The rest of the people are all dressed in Tang Pi armor - that is, the kind of metal soft armor passed down by Xu Ning's ancestor in the Water Margin, which is called chain mail in modern times. They also wore a seamless pot-shaped helmet on their heads – what modern people call the Russian Praetorian Guard Eagle Helmet......

Not only that, these people continue to pull things out of their backpacks. Not for a while. Armed belts, swords, bows, and crossbows were all present at their hands, and these men spread their things in front of them. Then the assembly of the waist knife began - the eye, the blade, the handle...... In the blink of an eye, a waist knife appeared in everyone's hand.

Then these people began to sort out the backpack, and after a while, the things all over the ground were collected by them into the backpack, and the backpack was thrown back on their shoulders, and a sea of metal appeared in front of everyone, led by three strong men dressed in silver floor-type armor, wearing beautiful helmets, and hanging a long knife on their waists; The rest of the people were in the chain mail, and their entire heads were wrapped in metal, with only their faces exposed......

The caravan in front of him frequently smoked cold air, and after a long time, the leader of the caravan's bodyguards stammered and sighed: "God, what kind of army is this!" ”

Zhao Xing also squinted his eyes and looked at this army, thinking in his heart: Lao Tzu has been on this territory for so long, and he is usually pretending to be a grandson, but now he wants to go to the front line, but he can't pretend to be a grandson, and he must let everyone know that I am here, even if he can't use propaganda tools like Fan Zhongyan, and say on behalf of the Tangut people: The Tangut people are very afraid. Also let the group of people in the rear not make trouble.

After the team was cleaned up, Zhao Xing beckoned to call the guide, spread out the map and compared it with several officers, and said: "The first 2 miles will be to the supply point, come, you will work hard, and you can rest when you get to the supply point." ”

The caravan on the other side was still staring at it in amazement, but their crossbows were already hanging down. At this time, Cheng Shuang said with feeling: "Seventh uncle, people say that you can't talk about soldiers on paper, but we have walked thousands of miles, and we are comparing on the map every day, so we can't talk about soldiers on paper." ”

Zhao Xing laughed and explained: "Since ancient times, talking about soldiers has never been on paper, without careful calculation, and if you go to talk about soldiers as soon as you pat your head, it is called a suicide." Remember, in the future, when we go to the front line, every time we talk about military affairs, we need to make careful calculations, and we must carry out the paper talk to the end before we can make a decision. ”

After saying this, Zhao Xing put away the map, beckoned and said, "Let's go!" ”

This sea of metal swaggered past the caravan with a rattling sound of metal. Zhao Xing didn't say hello to the passing states and counties along the way, but his elite team armed to the teeth still attracted the attention of many people, and there was a royal history that planned to impeach, but considering that the Gyeongju area was fighting every month, and 4 or 5 Taishou were replaced in a year, it was a blessing that someone was willing to go to Gyeongju at this time, and it was not a big mistake to call a few strong men to protect themselves. Besides, impeaching Zhao Xing now, can you make the other party get what he wants, abandon the official and leave, and then go to Su Shi's side to help.

It's not going to work, it's not going to work anyway.

Therefore, the imperial historians all watched Zhao Xing's armed parade with mixed feelings, and Jia Yi said in one sentence: "He's making a fuss, I know he's playing tricks." I know what he thinks: he must have thought that I had resettled 30,000 displaced people in Yangzhou and reclaimed 200,000 acres of wasteland, doubling Yangzhou's wealth. I'm not happy, come and impeach me, I'm waiting for my dismissal. Hmph, I'm not as good as he wants. No one is allowed to say this, we don't see him messing around, who dares to say it, I will never spare him. ”

After that, the entire Great Song Dynasty collectively lost its voice to Zhao Xing's behavior. They didn't expect that Zhao Xing came all the way to show off his might, and the court's disregard happened to make his behavior win a great reputation among the people, and when he entered the Hedong Army, people were quite expectant of his victory.

Zhao Xing's first appearance in Hedong also won a full house, Hedong is also "Zhenzhou", the local people have a high appreciation of ordnance and equipment, and when this team passed, the caravan leader Feng Ning muttered: "God, how much should it cost to equip this team, each person should not be about 3,000 yuan, a hundred people, at least ...... 300,000 times, hiss-"

3,000 guan is the price of a place in Hedong, Xu Ning's Tang Pijia in the Water Margin, some people came out to 3,000 guan, but Xu Ning was reluctant to sell it, because this was his heirloom......

The leader of the bodyguards was clever and immediately instigated: "Outside the staff, I heard that the Xixia people from the direction of Gyeongju are coming in again, and there are many bandits along the way, so it is better for us to keep up with this team, so we can be safe." ”

The leader of the caravan immediately woke up and shouted: "Keep up, keep up!" ”

Zhao Xing's team was like a big sponge, not long after walking, the caravans along the way were all attracted behind them, the long caravan stretched for several miles, and the smoke and dust kicked up went straight to the sky, and they could be seen from miles away. Not long after walking, several fast horses of sentry scouts rushed into the caravan, and when they saw the actual situation, they breathed a long sigh of relief.

Soon, a fast horse rushed into the caravan, he stopped on a hillside, took out a small gold cylinder from his arms, and looked at the team in front of him, Zhao Xing saw the other party's movements, and frequently greeted the other party: "Come down, stinky boy, who else can wear such armor on this way." ”

In these years, the one who can touch a pair of binoculars from his arms is, of course, Zhao Xing's person, and of course Zhao Xing is the one who can get together a hundred pairs of metal armor, and the knight on the opposite side is still carefully confirming, which shows that Zhao Xing's training has finally succeeded, and the soldier no longer believes in subjective judgment, but only in eyes.

The scout saw Zhao Xing's team clearly, cheered, urged the horse to rush down the hill, and shouted as he walked: "Seventh brother, I am not a brate. ”

This person is indeed not a kid, his generation is very big, and even the patriarch Cheng has to shout uncle when he sees him, but Zhao Xing's identity is complicated, although this person is young, Zhao Xing can't call him a kid when he sees it.

According to Cheng Jiaao's new family rules, those who are higher in rank than Zhao Xing will all be compared with Zhao Xing according to their age, so he calls him the seventh brother. This person was a previous person who came from the waterway in advance, rushed to this place in advance, collected supplies for Zhao Xing's team, he rushed down the hillside, and chattered without waiting for Zhao Xing to speak: "Seventh brother, there are not many war horses in the local area, I used your name to negotiate with the local government, and only then did I find eleven war horses and more than twenty mules, I don't know if these are enough." ”

Zhao Xing replied with a smile: "Don't say it, you really ruined the market by giving this name, why don't you say it, you have more words than anyone else." ”

Cheng Shuang walked over, looked up at Cheng Buyan who was riding on a horse, and quietly reminded: "Ninth Master, the military situation must not be leaked on the road, Hugh must be loud!" ”

Cheng Buyan realized, he turned over and dismounted, threw the reins to Cheng Shuang, and jumped in front of Zhao Xing, saying: "But it's suffocated to death, I came here a month in advance, people here are addicted to spirits, and I finally saved some spirits for you to keep......"