In the afternoon of the next day, more than a dozen horseback riders appeared on the official road about fifty miles from Kaiyang County, and although they all looked tired, their faces were full of relief after the excess.

This is eighteen scholars who returned from Ma'anling, eighteen people when they went, and there were many people when they came back, but Wei Qing, who was rescued halfway, disappeared, he asked Zheng Qingming for a horse and then left alone, and his whereabouts are unknown.

About a mile in front of the Tang army has been faintly seen the camp of the Tang Army, this is from Fengxiang rushed to 50,000 reinforcements, just arrived in Kaiyang County yesterday, speaking of Fengxiang Army and Zhang Huan has a little relationship, its predecessor is the Zhang Hedong Army ten years ago, Cui Yuan bought one of the senior officers, seized military power, and at the same time drove Zhang Potian, who had just been the prime minister for less than half a year, out of the phase, and replaced him,

It's just that this matter has long since passed in time, and it happened very secretly at that time, so most people don't know about it.

When everyone came to the barracks, they made it clear to the soldiers guarding the gate that there was an urgent military report.

The sergeant went in to report, and after a while, a general in his forties hurriedly arrived, and he bowed his hand to Zhang Huan and said, "Liu Yuanqing, I am on duty today, if you have any news, please tell me." ”

Zhang Huan saw that he smiled sincerely, so he saluted back and said: "Eighteen of us are scholars who entered Beijing to catch the exam, because of a coincidence, we burned more than 100,000 stone military rations of the Hui people, and now we have come to report that the Hui army has lost all its food and grass, and is fleeing westward, this good opportunity to destroy the enemy, the Tang army must not let go!" ”

"Wait!"

A low shout next to him interrupted Zhang Huan's words, only to see a general wearing a golden helmet walking quickly, he was about fifty years old, with a wide face and a wide nose, a burly figure, looking majestic, the soldiers on both sides of the gate saw him coming, they all knelt down and saluted, Liu Yuanqing also hurriedly flashed to the side.

The general waved his hand to everyone, walked straight to Zhang Huan, looked at him slightly, and asked in surprise, "Could it be that you did the fire in Maanling last night?" ”

"This is our Cui Dashuai, you must not be rude!" Liu Yuanqing, who was next to him, hurriedly whispered to Zhang Huan:

"Cui Dashuai?" Zhang Huan suddenly knew who the person in front of him was, this Cui Dashuai was Cui Qinggong, the younger brother of Cui Yuan, the right minister of the dynasty, the official worship of Fengxiang Jiedu, holding 80,000 Fengxiang troops, and also serving as the general of Chang'an Jinwuwei, controlling most of Chang'an's defense forces, he is the second person in the Cui family.

Zhang Huan hurriedly bowed down and saluted, "Back to Cui Dashuai, last night's Maanling fire was indeed our doing." ”

"You mean, a fire burned up the military rations of the Hui people?" Cui Qinggong continued to ask, he stared at Zhang Huan tightly, his eyes did not blink, and he didn't seem to believe Zhang Huan's words at all.

Zhang Huan said lightly: "If the marshal doesn't believe it, you can send someone to inspect it, but the opportunity is rare, and I hope that the marshal will make a decision immediately." ”

Cui Qinggong suddenly smiled, he got a scout express at noon, saying that a fire broke out in Ma'anling, more than 100 miles away, in the early morning, and the Hui army also moved with it, and retreated westward in a hurry.

"You are all meritorious and famous, how can you lie at will, Ben Shuai believes you for seven points first." He patted Zhang Huan's shoulder with a smile, "Come on!" Go to my tent and speak. ”

．．．．．．．

In the big tent, Zhang Huan briefly told him what happened, they rescued Wei Qing, and on the way to escape, they accidentally found the grain and grass of the Hui people, and said it in 1510, but when it came to burning the military rations, he hid his own diving and broke into a section alone, but said that everyone worked together to achieve it.

Cui Qinggong listened with a smile, but thoughtfully, looking a little careless, and when Zhang Huan finished speaking, he smiled gently: "If what you say is true, it will be a great credit, and I will report to the emperor to reward you." ”

He immediately ordered someone to call Liu Yuanqing, and apologized to everyone: "This commander wants to send troops immediately, and he will not leave you, you go down to eat something first, and then freshen up, and I will let General Liu escort you into Beijing." ”

After that, he gave Liu Yuanqing a look, and Liu Yuanqing understood, so he took Zhang Huan and the others away.

Cui Qinggong kept watching everyone's backs disappear, the smile on his face suddenly disappeared, he smiled coldly, and then ordered his own soldiers to say, "Go and call the eldest prince!" ”

After a while, a young officer walked in from outside the tent, it was Cui Qinggong's eldest son Cui Xiong, he looked quite like Cui Qinggong, also generally broad-faced and wide-nosed, about 20 years old, he was originally a famous villain in Chang'an, the head of the family Cui Yuan in order to take care of the family's reputation, he forced him to join the army three months ago, because there was no military merit, so he temporarily did some chores in the army.

"Father, are you looking for me?" Cui Xiong walked up to his father and asked.

"Yes! Daddy has something good to look for you. ”

Cui Qinggong's rough face suddenly showed a hint of pride, and he smiled gloomily: "Now, there is a great credit to fall on you!" ”

．．．．．．

From Kaiyang County to Fengxiang County is only more than 300 miles, if you speed up, you can arrive in one day, eighteen soldiers under the escort of three hundred cavalry to speed south, everyone is full of interest, laughter left all the way.

Only Zhang Huan didn't say a word, looking a little worried, although Cui Qinggong had a gentle attitude and praised them, but his handling was a little sloppy, at least let himself take him to the scene to confirm, and the judge who recorded the merit was nowhere to be seen, and even his identity was not confirmed, which was really unreasonable.

Zhang Huan glanced at Liu Yuanqing from the corner of his eye, and saw that his face was gloomy like water, since the Hui people had retreated westward, was it necessary to send troops and horses to escort him? Or three hundred elite soldiers, is it .....

Zhang Huan suddenly had a sense of foreboding in his heart, he thought of a possibility, a very terrible consequence, and he immediately became vigilant in his heart.

Because of the arrival of reinforcements, there is an endless stream of pedestrians on the official road, most of them are refugees who return to Kaiyang County, about ten miles, there is a fork in the road, it is a shortcut to Fengxiang County, the road is sparsely populated, there is a large black pine forest in the distance, Zhang Huan glanced at Liu Yuanqing quickly, waiting for his reaction.

Sure enough, Liu Yuanqing, who had been silent, suddenly laughed, "Zhang Gongzi, there are too many people on the official road, we can't gallop to our heart's content, why don't we take the path and get to Fengxiang earlier, what do you think?"

"Coincidence? No! Definitely not! Zhang Huan was already completely sure of Liu Yuanqing's intentions at this time, and as soon as he thought about it, he smiled and said: "Our horse skills are not good, but we can't let go of the small road, let's take the official road!" ”

After that, he whipped hard, sped up his horse and rushed across the fork in the road, Liu Yuanqing saw that Zhang Huan was not fooled, a fierce light flashed in his eyes, and he also accelerated and ran forward.

Everyone walked for dozens of miles, and the time gradually reached noon, there was a tea shed on the side of the road in front, Zhang Huan turned over and dismounted, and smiled at Liu Yuanqing: "General Liu, after running a hundred miles, I am really tired and hungry, we might as well rest here for a while!" ”

"It's good! Take a break. Liu Yuanqing smiled, waved his hand to the back, and jumped off the horse and walked into the tea shed.

The two sat down, Xiao Er ran over and poured tea for everyone, Liu Yuanqing smiled and said, "Where is Zhang Gongzi from?" ”

"In the lower Taiyuan people!"

"Taiyuan?" Liu Yuanqing was a little surprised, "May I ask the name of the son?" ”

Zhang Huan dipped his fingers in some tea and wrote the word 'Huan' on the low table, "In the next Zhang Huan!" ”

"Your name is Zhang Huan!"

Liu Yuanqing looked left and right, then lowered his voice and said: "I know that the seventh generation of the Zhang family in Hedong is named after the word fire, like Zhang Xuan, Zhang Ye, and Zhang Can, are you a child of the Zhang family?" ”

Zhang Huan glanced at him, and saw that his expression was solemn, as if he was confirming a big thing, he groaned, then took out his school registration, and said frankly: "I am indeed a child of the Zhang family, and my father is Zhang Ruojun, the chief historian of Fenyang." ”

Liu Yuanqing looked at his student status anxiously, and was stunned for a while, only listening to him mutter, "He is actually a child of the Zhang family, what can I do about this?" ”

"General Liu, what does it matter that I'm a disciple of the Zhang family?"

Zhang Huan pointed to Xin Lang, who was sitting in the distance, and said with a slight smile: "That Xin Gongzi of Jincheng County is the son of General Xin Yunjing!" ”

Liu Yuanqing didn't seem to take Xin Yunjing to heart, he lowered his head, his eyes were full of contradictions, suddenly, he stood up and said decisively: "Zhang Gongzi, I'll send you to this point, you go!" ”

"Thank you General Liu for sending me off, then we will go first."

Zhang Huan no longer rested, he took advantage of Liu Yuanqing's no regrets, hurriedly led the soldiers to turn over and get on the horse, and galloped south like a whirlwind, waiting for them to go away, Liu Yuanqing looked at their backs blankly and said to himself: "Dashuai, it is good for you to treat me like a mountain, but I Liu Mou can't forget my roots." ”

It wasn't until Zhang Huan and their figures disappeared that he stood up with a gloomy expression and shouted to the soldiers: "Collect the troops, go back to the camp!" ”

．．．．．．