The West Envoy City was newly named Xicheng by the imperial court, and at this time it had become the military base of Qin Fenglu, and the troops of Cao Keming and Liu Jiji came here in batches for training. At this time, the general judgment of the Zhenrong army had been taken over by Tian Jing, and the original general sentence Fan Xiang was transferred to Qinzhou, and Chong Shiheng changed his military position and became the deputy commander of Liu and Jijun's army. The deputy commander of the capital who partnered with Cao Keming was Zhang Sheng, the former governor of Jingyuan Road. Zhang Sheng was also born in Jinshi, and after the party rebellion, he changed his military with literature and came to the northwest.

It's been a close year, and there is a lively scene everywhere, as if the air is full of the smell of wine and meat. After walking a short distance, I saw a large pot on the side of the road, in which beef and mutton were boiling hot.

The original Tibetan tribe here was basically swept away, all the tribes who participated in the southern invasion of Yuzang Huama were all Yi people's tents, and the young Zhuang were sent to the southern states and Lizhou Road to transport grain, and the women and children were assigned to the camp and field work. The cattle and sheep of these tribes were all captured by the Qinzhou army. The ones used for breeding were first selected by the newly established horse herding division, and the rest of the good ones were picked up by the camp and field affairs, and the rest were sold, and those that could not be sold had to be slaughtered and eaten. The Tibetan tribe was wiped out, and a large herd of livestock gathered together, and there were too many redundant and useless ones.

At this time, the price of beef and mutton in Qinzhou fell to a historical low, and Shuaifu and Sansipu hired many people to make salted meat and jerky, and from the Wei River, large ice cubes were trafficked to the Central Plains, but they still could not digest it.

The sick lieutenant Chi followed a soldier on the streets of the Western Envoy City, looking at the steaming scene on both sides of the road, and had a sense of absurdity. All the way to the south, the territory of the party is lifeless, and compared with here, it is like a dead place.

At this time, the sun was still hiding behind the distant mountains, there was only a touch of red on the horizon, the coolness of the night did not recede, and the frost on the ground was white, as if it had snowed.

When he arrived outside the newly established Shuaifu, he took the sick soldier to look at the horizon and said, "It's still early, Li Jiyi is just afraid that he hasn't seen things yet, so let's wait." It's such a cold weather, I see that you are also frozen, go, I invite you to drink a bowl of hot soup. ”

As he spoke, he was late to a large shed on the side of the road not far away. There was a large pot in front of the shed, in which the lamb was boiling hot, and on the table next to it was a mountain of flatbread.

When he sat down at the table under the shed, the soldier said in a loud voice: "Supervisor, come two bowls of broth, cut some good meat in them, and I will invite guests!" Two more pieces of bread, a bowl of good wine, and go to the cold! ”

One of the servants inside agreed, ran to the cauldron quickly, and took a large porcelain bowl to hold the soup. After serving the soup, he took the boiled mutton on the table, cut it and put it in a bowl.

The soup was put on the table, and the soldier said, "I was on duty at night, and I didn't have any money with me, and I recorded it in the account, and I will send it over in a while." ”

The sick lieutenant heard it late, and hurriedly touched a silver hairpin from his body, stuffed it into the little girl's hand, and said, "I have disturbed my brother so much, how dare I ask you to spend money?" This hairpin should be worth the money for wine and meat! ”

The soldier took the hairpin from the little servant's hand, stuffed it into the sick lieutenant, and said with a smile: "The rules in the army, but you can't eat your wine and meat at this time." If it goes well today, you come out and invite me again, then that's another matter. ”

Where is the sick lieutenant willing to accept it? He shoved the hairpin into the soldier's hand.

The soldier said: "Military law is strict, if I really eat your wine, there will be punishment in the army." Brother, we have to distinguish between public and private affairs here, I am on an errand now, and I can't eat your invitation. If you really want to, ask me afterwards, that's another matter. ”

The sick lieutenant listened to this soldier say twice and invited him afterwards, why didn't he understand the meaning? Knowing that there might be such a rule in the army, there would be no restrictions on the supplementary request afterwards, so he put away the hairpin and no longer insisted on it.

From Xingqing Mansion to Xishou Supervision Military Division, the mileage of the post road officially stipulated by the party was 15 days, and the sick lieutenant was 18 days late, and when he arrived at the West Envoy City, it took another 10 days, and it was already the middle of the month. When he arrived at the Western Envoy City, he was intercepted by the patrolling soldiers, and as soon as he asked if he was from Xingqing Mansion, he handed it over to the Jiyi Division under Li Zhang's jurisdiction. Spying on the military situation, patrolling and arresting, these things are all in charge of the Ji Yi Division, and the current lieutenant Chi knows the news, so he naturally intends to entrap this soldier on duty.

The bread and wine came up, because on duty, the soldiers did not dare to drink, but let the sick lieutenant drink it late. After eating and drinking, and watching the sun poke its head out of the sky, the soldier took the sick lieutenant into the Shuai's Mansion late and went to see Li Zhang.

Xu Ping, the political affairs of Qinzhou, had already delegated power to Shi Yannian and Fan Xiang, and he moved the Shuai tent to Dingxi City to concentrate on the military. After getting up early in the morning and washing up, I was about to go to Cao Keming's army to inspect when I saw Li Zhang coming in in a hurry.

Stepping forward and saluting, Li Zhang crossed his hands and said: "Jieshuai, a person came from Xingqing Mansion today, saying that he was originally from the Song Dynasty, and he fled to the party to avoid trouble because he committed a crime." He knows something about Zhang Yuan, and it's not good for me to make my own decisions. ”

Xu Ping looked out the window, the sun had just risen, and he was not in a hurry to go out, so he said, "Okay, you bring someone over, I'll ask." Zhang Yuan is opening a bank for Hao thief, and I have been hoping that he will open the bank sooner. ”

Li Zhang agreed, turned around and went out, and after a while, he came in late with the sick lieutenant.

As soon as he entered the tent, the sick lieutenant knelt on the ground and saluted, and said: "The little people pay tribute to the minister." ”

Xu Ping looked at Li Zhang, and said to the sick lieutenant: "You are well-behaved, and you didn't recognize the wrong person." Get up and speak. ”

The sick lieutenant got up late and said: "Xiaomin is a native of Henan Mansion, and he grew up in Luoyang City since he was a child. After a little Xianggong was a transfer envoy on Jingxi Road, the small one was seen on the side of the road, and it was recognized by him. ”

Xu Ping nodded and did not speak. Yuan Hao was cunning and sent a lot of fine work to the Great Song Dynasty, although Xu Ping's eyes in later generations saw that these espionage jobs were quite rough, but in this era, it gave the Song Dynasty a lot of headaches.

At this time, the offensive of the party on the Eastern Front had already begun, and Jinmingzhai, the gateway to Yanzhou, was broken by Yuan Hao with spies. For the people who came to the party, if they didn't find out the details, Xu Ping didn't believe a word they said.

Ordered the soldiers to serve tea, let the sick lieutenant drink it late, and Xu Ping sat down and asked him to explain his intentions.

After squirming for a while, the sick lieutenant said chi: "The little one used to mess around in Luoyang City, and he only ate at Tianjin Bridge every day. Later, he robbed Zhang Xianggong's family during the day, was assigned to the army, and met Tong Dalang. Later, he was pardoned, because Tong Dalang's cellar mouth was taken away, and he had no choice but to return to Luoyang City. Because Sun Tongju's family in Henan Province wanted to open a false company, he recognized Tong Dalang as his own family and dealt with the people in the official face. Later, the incident happened, the little one and Tong Dalang rolled up some gold and silver, set a fire, and walked away. We were guilty of a capital crime, so we had to flee to the party, thinking that we would be a fool of the rest of our lives—"

Hearing this, Xu Ping, who had been squinting, opened his eyes suddenly, looked at the sick lieutenant Chi and said, "The fire in Longmen Town was set by the two of you?" At that time, I couldn't find anyone anywhere, but I didn't expect you to flee to the party! ”

The sick lieutenant didn't know what Xu Ping meant, and knelt on the ground: "It was put by the little ones, who were ignorant at the time and committed a capital crime!" ”

Xu Ping smiled: "You don't have to be afraid, you didn't hurt the innocent at that time, and the matter is over." Get up and speak! ”

The sick lieutenant got up tremblingly, stood aside, peeked at Xu Ping, and was still a little apprehensive. This time when he came to the south, it was not only about himself, but also about Tong Dalang's life and death, all in Xu Ping's thoughts.