When Fan Jin left Jingshi, the weather had already entered summer. The weather in the north is already very hot at this time of year, and this year's climate is even more extreme, with extremely cold winters and extremely hot summers. There was just a rain yesterday, and as soon as the sun came out, people were even more uncomfortable. The scorching sun hung weakly in the sky and snoozed, and the roads were muddy and difficult to walk because of the rain.

The distance between heaven and earth is sometimes a few county seats, and sometimes it is a city wall. Although it is only more than 100 miles away from Beijing here, the quality of the official road is no longer the same, after all, the Son of Heaven can't go to such a far place, and it makes no sense to build such a solid road. The quality of the so-called official road is also very average, it is dusty on sunny days, and muddy feet on rainy days.

The cart was stuck in the muddy road, and more than a dozen elite men were bare-chested, shouting and shouting, you push and pull, and rescue the vehicle from the mud. Sweat mixed with muddy water fell onto the bronzed skin, and it felt hot, like someone had sprinkled warm water on it.

Huge Taoist teams meandered like snakes, occupying the entire official road, and on both sides of the official road were crops half a man high, and the fragrance of grain mixed with the stench of manure wafted in the wind. This kind of place is naturally suitable for ambushes, when Fan Jin's eyes drifted from the carriage to the side of the road, the picture that came to mind was in the green gauze tent, hundreds of heroes with rifles and crooked handles were ready to go, just waiting for the protagonist with a shell gun to give an order, and launched a fierce attack on his villain.

Of course, facts and assumptions are two different things, and there will be no ambush in the real green gauze tent, at most there will be villagers watching the excitement. But one thing is right, that is, Fan Jin is indeed the villain.

The patrol press Yushi went out of Beijing, all of them were light and simple, and his subordinates, together with the patrol himself, were only twenty or thirty people to the limit. However, Fan Jin's team numbered more than 1,000 people, and there were a large number of chariots, which were loaded with labor salaries and blue cloth, and their size could be regarded as a guest army to assist the border passes.

At the very front of this giant serpent, the golden letters on several official title plates shimmered in the sun:

In addition to the existing honors and titles such as "Ci Jinshi Origin" and "Ding Chou Ke Chuan", the most eye-catching thing is this dispatch, "Patrol Hunting on behalf of the Heavens", "Patrol according to Xuanda, Shanxi and other military affairs and manage food and salary", "Imperial Gift Shangfang Sword", "Ru I came in person".

If Fan Jin went out of Beijing by himself, whether it was for the convenience of work or not to irritate Zheng Luo, he would choose to take a light car and set off on the road with only Xue Wu and Liang Pandi. But now there is a Zhang Shunqing in the team, even if Fan Jin himself doesn't care, Zhang Juzheng will not allow his beloved daughter to be in danger, and he specially asked Fan Jin for the transportation of silver cloth flowers, and the scale of the team has become unprecedentedly large.

In the three battalions of the Beijing Division, 600 soldiers were selected, plus a team of shotgunners in the eastern Liaodong border army, and a group of elite and strong family members were also selected from the mansions of each lord as escorts. Guarding Miss Zhang is naturally different from protecting ordinary people, every soldier is a carefully selected elite soldier, and the weapon configuration is also extremely complete.

But with such a team, security can be guaranteed, but it has become a problem. The cost of rations and horse gan is not small, for the local yamen, the temporary supply of food and drink for hundreds of people is already difficult, plus the diet of Fan Jin and his wife, that is the rhythm of human life. Fan Jin is a person who has been a magistrate, understands the difficulties of these people, and also knows that their last resort is either to harsh the people or to urge the gentry, which road is not very good, so he pays special attention to the route he chooses, and tries not to disturb the people.

Starting from Jingshi, trace the source of the Yongding River, go to the Sanggan River Valley, go straight to Juyong Pass, and then go to Datong. In this way, it will cause the least intrusion on the local yamen, but for those who are in a hurry, they will suffer.

Traveling in the Ming Dynasty is definitely a chore, especially in bad weather, Fan Jin was born in a peasant family, even if he has not been offended, he can resist the harsh environment, Zhang Shunqing has been pampered since childhood, even if he goes out, the carriage and horse post station is thoughtful everywhere, and he has never suffered a little. At this time, looking around, I saw that in addition to the mountains were crops, and then there was no empty official road, the smell of sweat on the soldier's body floated in through the blue gauze window, which made her eyebrows furrowed, pulled Fan Jin, put down the window screen casually, and complained in a low voice:

"Zhang Fengpan is really hateful, he actually protects such an errand as a minister. How good it is to be in the capital, you have to go out and suffer this sin. ”

Xia He shook the fan vigorously on the side of the young lady, and he was also sweating like rain, and he also echoed beside him: "That's it!" What the hell is this place, is it human? Last night, I stayed and called a post station? Even our family temple is much stronger than there. ”

"This is not bad, after all, it is the hinterland area, although the conditions are poor, it can be settled, and it will be called a bitter word until it is out of Juyongguan. Once the captives pass Datong, they may be harassed there, and they can be regarded as a combat zone outside the Yong Pass, and the folk customs and rules are very different from those of the Beijing Division, especially for women. So my suggestion is that it's too late to go back now, and I can send a cavalry to send you back to Beijing. ”

Zhang Shunqing smiled and took a square silk handkerchief from her body to gently wipe the sweat beads from Xianggong's head.

"What did Xiang Gong say? You and I are husband and wife with the same fate, and blessings and misfortunes are naturally the same. If the husband suffers, the concubine can bear it, where will he want to go back? Besides, in such a desolate place, people have no pastime, and if they don't look good, most of them will be taken advantage of by other women, and I won't leave them empty. When she said this, her eyes fluttered, and she smiled slightly, and her slightly pale face was a little more red.

"The concubine body is not a paper paste, and I can suffer what others can suffer. Besides, with me by Xianggong's side, I can still share my worries and sorrows for Xianggong, where can I leave casually, Xianggong, do you say? ”

On the carriage, there were several stacks of ledgers, including the roster sent by Zhang Guodong and the information of Xuanda obtained by Zhang Juzheng from other channels. After all, Dongchang, Jinyiwei and the Ministry of War are all in Zhang Juzheng's hands, and when he wants information about a certain area, he can still find a lot of information. It's just that the intelligence knowledge of the Ming Dynasty is relatively backward and unsystematic, all the intelligence is mixed in one place, and it can't be systematic, what Zhang Shunqing has to do is to sort out these pieces of intelligence in the scorching heat, so that Fan Jin can easily find and watch.

Zhang Shunqing has extraordinary talent in this regard, just like she takes care of the family business. Although I haven't studied, I can understand it as soon as I get started and have achieved remarkable results, and I deserve to be the prime minister's talent. Fan Jin was already thinking of using Zhang Juzheng's power to set up a small intelligence agency in private, with Zhang Shunqing in full charge, and having such a woman in charge of sorting out information and sorting out intelligence would save him a lot of worry about his work.

The situation about the local officers in Xuanfu has been cleared up, some of them have been marked under their names, and the other part has not. Zhang Shunqing said: "These people have not come to visit the dock yet, if we go to the ground in Shanxi and these people still refuse to show their heads, it is asking for hardship." I have everyone's incriminating evidence in my hand, and when the time comes, Xiang Gong will sacrifice Shang Fang's sword to cut off a few of his heads, so that they can know that it is powerful! ”

Fan Jin already knew the origin of this Shang Fang sword, and all in all, it was a cup of bitter wine made by the joint efforts of several parties. First, Zhang Siwei's guarantee, and then Zhang Juzheng entered the palace to apply for some necessary guarantees for Fan Jin's travel, including bringing paid silver belt guards, and then Li Cailian launched. She had no objection to Fan entering and leaving Beijing, but she was worried that something would happen to him, so she ran into the palace to ask the Queen Mother for help, and the Queen Mother found the emperor and asked him to find a way.

Wanli himself is at the age of the second year of secondary school, although he likes to use the emperor's heart and tricks to restrain the ministers, but after all, he is still young and can't control himself to commit two. Shang Fang sword this thing is not popular in the Ming Dynasty at the moment, even the number of royal flags is extremely limited, in fact, the patrol itself has the power to make decisions on small matters, and the patrol during the Jiajing period can even transfer troops to merge with the prefect, the power is already very large, and then give the power to act cheaply on behalf of the heavenly patrol to form a constraint on the governor of the Jiangchen. But as soon as the aunt and mother spoke, Wanli couldn't care so much, and in the words that Fan Jin wrote before, there was also the plot of Shang Fangjian's murder as an important node. Wanli learned from it, so he also rewarded such a sword.

In fact, Shang Fangjian, like the Wang Ming Banner, is a symbol of power, not really let it cut people. Therefore, the so-called Yang Ho slaughtered the cow with the Shang Fang sword in later generations is pure and empty, and there is no need to go to the heart, the Shang Fang sword of the Ming Dynasty is not sharp, nor heavy, and the shape is a ceremonial sword, not a thing to cut people. Its biggest function is a token, a symbol of my personal presence, and a symbol of the power of the minister.

In terms of the specific scope of Shang Fangjian's management, the Ming Dynasty lacked a relevant management system, and there was no written law to rely on who it could control and what kind of punishment it could make. In the end, it becomes a relationship for everyone to see, and it is entirely possible that A with Shang Fang's sword will kill B with Shang Fang's sword, and in the end, as long as the emperor is willing to endorse it, it is not wrong.

Behind Fan Jin is Zhang Juzheng, and there are saints with him, if a celebrity like him really invites Shang Fang's sword to cut a few generals, it is not a big deal, no wonder Zhang Shunqing is so majestic. Just as he was talking, there was a rush of horses' hooves, and a luan bell floated over from a long distance, and then someone shouted:

"Nanshan General Wang Bangping learned that Fan Da's old car was here, and he came to offer ice!"

There was a rush of horses and bells, and the generals with sweaty armor led a team of elite horsemen to come, and the horses did not run much in the mud, but these people were superb in riding, and under their control, the horses still maintained a high-speed sprint, approaching Fan Jin's team. Each person carries two ice buckets on the horse, which are filled with ice cubes that have been purchased with a lot of money.

In the middle of winter, the real big families will store ice just for the hot next year. Buying ice from these people is not only expensive but also difficult to buy. Just such a group of cavalry carried enough ice for a family of five to ration for a year.

Although Fan Jin deliberately chose a relatively remote road not to alarm the local government, if the local government really let Fan Jin go over and did nothing happen, the errand would be over. Fan Jin's itinerary is public, and in addition to doing a good job of security work along the way, the most important thing for the government is to ensure that Fan Jin and his wife are satisfied and that the quality of life of Fan Jin's family is not affected.

Hearing the name of the newspaper, Zhang Shunqing picked up the pen, found Wang Bangping's name, and marked it below. As for whether the follow-up is passed, it depends on whether the gift he gave is satisfactory.

Fan Jin didn't want to go down to say a few perfunctory greetings, but Zhang Shunqing whispered in the back: "It's hot and knows how to send ice, this person has a good brain, don't deliberately embarrass him." After all, our purpose is in Shanxi, and we should not cause trouble in Xuanfu. ”

Wang Bangping is in his forties this year, not tall but extremely strong, and he looks like a standard martial artist. Behind him, there was also a handsome young man in his early twenties, whose face was dusty and his face could not be seen, but his eyebrows were full of heroism.

When Fan Jin got off the car, Shen San was already receiving them, as Fan Jin's personal staff, Shen San followed him all the way from Shangyuan to Jingshi, and it was also his duty to go to Xuantian this time. When the two met, Wang Bangping and the young man came to salute together, and then each put their notebooks on their heads

"Command the Longmen Guard, give the Nanshan General Wang Bangping, the Shanhaiwei Command, and the Shimenzhai General Qi Jin, meet Master Fan!"

Qi Jin?

Fan Jin was stunned for a moment, his gaze crossed Wang Bangping's tall body, fell on the young man behind him, and stopped for a moment before he said, "You said you are Qi Jin?" You are not guarding Shimenzhai, why did you run here? ”

"If you go back to the old man, you will be ordered by the general of the military department to come and escort the old man to patrol the Xuanda, and then return to the camp to do business. From now on, the mark will be under the command of the eldest master. ”

"Dare to ask, what is the name of Nantang Qi Shuai, who is now guarding Ji Town, and the little general?"

"It's Uncle Villain."

Fan Jin didn't hesitate at this time, and stepped forward to pick up Qi Jin, "Sure enough, it's Qi Yuanrong's nephew, Fan is disrespectful." Your uncle and nephew guard Jizhen, as the minister of the pillar of the country, Fan is just a scholar, if you want to say that kneeling is also my dear you, let's just have two pennies, and don't be formal in the future. I really didn't expect that Fan's trip to Xuanda actually alarmed General Qi Xiao, which made me extremely frightened, and I was fortunate to have three lives. I have admired the name of Yuanrong for a long time, and today I have to see the little general's respectful face, just to tell me about Qi Shuai's deeds, and it also opened my eyes. This is back to Xuanda to inspect military affairs, and the little general also needs more guidance. After the matter is completed, Fan will be rewarded and will not let the little general be busy in vain. ”