After the ravages of the two wars, Xiangzhou was even more fragmented, there was no complete house in sight on both sides of the official road, and even the newly built grass hut was burned by the Jin soldiers.

In the early morning of this day, a cavalry of the Song army of 3,000 people appeared in the territory of Tangyin County, this cavalry was the peripheral cavalry led by Wang Gui, they got the approval of Li Yanqing, led the army across the Yellow River into Weizhou, and after getting supplies in Weizhou, they entered Xiangzhou by the official road in the northeast.

The miserable scene along the way made Wang Gui's face sink like water, looking at his broken hometown, his heart felt as uncomfortable as a knife, the former wheat fields have been barren, the once vibrant villages have become ruins, and there are still a lot of scattered white bones on the roadside, which have been gnawed and broken by wild dogs.

At this time, Wang Gui stopped his horse in front of a small village and looked at the village that had been almost burned to the ground.

"Wang, what's wrong?" Niu Gao stepped forward and asked, he didn't know what was special about this small village.

"Do you know whose home this village is?" Wang Gui was a little sad.

Niu Gao was stunned, and suddenly reacted, "Could it be that this is ......?"

Wang Gui nodded lightly, "This is Lao Li's home, Li Wencun." ”

Niu Gao opened his mouth in shock, this was actually Li Yanqing's home, and after looking at it for a while, Niu Gao asked curiously: "Where is Lao Wang's home?" ”

"My home is on the side of Yongji Canal, about twenty miles away from here, not next to the official road, probably better."

Wang Gui shook his head, "Let's go!" Let's go to Tangyin County first. ”

The team continued to go north, and the army entered Yushan Town, Wang Gui's eyes burned with anger for a moment, Yushan Town had been completely destroyed, the good memories of the past were all in ruins, and even Lushan Academy was burned to the ground.

Wang Gui stared at the town coldly for a long time, he finally restrained the anger in his heart, and slowly said to his subordinate generals: "Before, General Zhao asked me, what should I do if I capture the enemy's prisoners of war? I don't have a definite answer, but now I tell you that when we go north this time, all the golden soldiers will be killed, and no one will be left alive. ”

"Obey!" Several generals bowed together.

"Go to Tangyin County!"

Wang Gui gave an order, and the three thousand cavalry accelerated and rushed towards Tangyin County........

Tangyin County is also a mess, but compared to the desolation in the city, some traces can still be seen in the county, Wang Gui led the cavalry to the south gate of the county, only to see that the gate was closed, and there were soldiers guarding the city, but then look closely, there was no banner of the golden soldiers, the soldiers in the city did not seem to be wearing armor, Niu Gao was anxious, and directly urged the horse to raise his head and shouted: "Who is the person in the city?" ”

No one answered him, and someone timidly asked, "Is it the Song army under the city?" ”

"Nonsense, will we be golden soldiers?"

Niu Gao was a little impatient and said: "Since you are not Jin Bing, open the door quickly!" ”

The soldiers above became nervous, and they all opened their bows and arrows, which startled Niu Gao, what is going on?

At this time, a man in his thirties, dressed in armor, walked to the city, looked at Niu Gao, and asked, "Where are you from the Song army?" ”

Later, Wang Gui suddenly shouted: "Is it Jiang Tuanlian above?" ”

The man was stunned, stared at Wang Gui for a moment, and he suddenly recognized it, "You are Wang Tuanlian!" ”

"Exactly!"

Wang Gui immediately stepped forward and said with a smile: "We are not Jin Bing, let us go in Kaicheng." ”

Jiang Tuanlian's face sank, and he said coldly: "I'm sorry, there is no property in this county, you can go elsewhere!" ”

Wang Gui was stunned, "Jiang Tuanlian, what do you mean by this?" ”

"What do you mean by me, you want to ransack Tangyin County, dream!"

Wang Gui slapped his forehead, he understood, and hurriedly took out the arrow and raised it high, explaining to the city head: "Jiang Tuanlian, we are going north from the capital on the order of Li Dutong, this is my arrow, we are by no means a soldier who plunders the city." ”

Jiang Tuanlian stared at Wang Gui's hand for a moment, and saw that the cavalry helmet behind him was bright, and there was no sign of plundering property, and more importantly, Wang Gui was from Tangyin County, and rabbits should not eat grass by the nest, Jiang Tuanlian finally believed Wang Gui's words, and casually ordered: "Open the city!" ”

The city gate creaked open, and Niu Gao asked Wang Gui in a low voice, "Who is this Jiang Tuanlian?" ”

"I used to do Xiangzhou group training for a period of time, this person is called Jiang Hua, who is my predecessor and is also from Tangyin County."

"I see, but how can he think that we are taking property?" Niu Gao was even more confused.

"Just ask him right away!"

At this time, the city gate opened, Jiang Hua greeted him, hugged his fists and said, "I was a little rude just now, I'm sorry!" ”

"Where! Where! Jiang Tuanlian is right to be vigilant, but I'm a little curious, why does Jiang Tuanlian think that we are here to plunder money? ”

Jiang Hua sighed, "Some armies have no ability to resist Jin, but robbing ordinary people is like wolves and tigers. ”

Wang Gui and Niu Gao glanced at each other, and both of them showed surprise in their eyes, "Could it be that Song Jun also has a share?" Niu Gao blurted out.

Jiang Hua nodded, "The remnants of the Song army that were defeated and surrendered to the Jin State, of course, and the Jurchens, looted everywhere, robbed property and women, as far as I know, more than 20 counties in Hebei have been rushed into the city by the former Song army to loot, it is very tragic!" ”

"Could it be that the garrisons all over Hebei are the Song troops who surrendered to the Jin State?" Wang Gui suddenly asked.

"This is a bit complicated, let's go into the city and talk about it!"

Wang Gui immediately asked several generals to bring the soldiers into the city to rest, Jiang Hua said with a smile: "In the past, there was still a little forage and grain left in the military warehouse, which you can use as supplies, but the grain in the county warehouse will not be moved, leave it to us." ”

"Huh! You're welcome. ”

Although Wang Gui's army brought dry food with him, it was limited after all, and he didn't want to let go of the opportunity to get supplies.

The army entered the city, and the city of Tangyin County was not as dilapidated and depressed as Wang Gui thought, and there were still a lot of people, but like the capital, most of the shops were closed, and the open space in the city was full of beans.

"Although Tangyin County has been looted by the Jin soldiers once, it has not been sacked by the Song army, which is also a blessing in misfortune, but everyone is having a hard time, and thanks to the fact that the tax and grain have not been handed over, everyone can barely make ends meet."

"How many people are there in the county?" Wang Gui asked again.

"Probably tens of thousands! The people of Tangyin County either died in the war or fled south, and the rest were people who did not want to leave their hometowns, and everyone gathered in the county seat. ”

"Is the government still there?"

Jiang Hua shook his head, "The government has long been withdrawn, and now more than a dozen elders have formed an elders' council, elected me as the leader of the city defense, and recruited hundreds of disciples, you can also see, in fact, we can't withstand an attack by the Jin soldiers." ”

After a while, everyone came to the original county office, which is now a temporary military office set up by Jiang Hua, he invited Wang Gui and Niu Gao to sit down, and let people serve tea, Jiang Hua sat down and said with a smile: "If I guess correctly, you are here to harass Jin Bing when you go north this time!" ”

Wang Gui smiled slightly: "I guessed right, I don't know if Jiang Tuanlian has any information to provide?" ”

"You can go to Anyang County."

"There are Jin soldiers in Anyang County?" Wang Gui and Niu Gao asked in unison.

Jiang Hua nodded, "After all, Xiangzhou is also a strategic place, of course, there are also Jin soldiers stationed, there are 3,000 Jin soldiers in Anyang County, but there are only 500 Jurchens, and the other 2,500 people are the Song army that surrendered, and now they can be regarded as Jin soldiers!" ”

At this time, Niu Gao next to him asked again: "Is there any news of Yue Fei?" ”

This is also the news that Wang Gui wants to know, he perked up and looked at Jiang Hua, Jiang Hua took a letter from the bookshelf next to him and threw it to Wang Gui, "This is a letter that Yue Fei wrote to me a few days ago, asking me to jointly attack the Jin soldiers of Anyang County, frankly, I don't plan to agree." ”

"Why?"

"Do you need to ask? We only have a few hundred township soldiers under our command, and attacking Anyang County is undoubtedly hitting a stone with an egg, and I don't do this kind of stupid thing. ”

Wang Gui was silent for a moment and then asked, "Where is Yue Fei now?" ”

"It should be in the Cizhou area, and there are probably only a few hundred of them."

Speaking of this, Jiang Hua got up and said, "You guys should rest first!" I'm going to arrange a warehouse, and I'm out of company. ”

Jiang Hua hugged his fists and saluted, and left in a hurry.

Wang Gui opened Yue Fei's letter and read it carefully, and at this time, Niu Gao asked in a low voice: "Old Wang, do you think this surname Jiang is credible?" ”

"You found out too?" Wang Gui stopped talking.

Niu Gao nodded, "I do feel that something is wrong, but I can't think of anything wrong all of a sudden?" ”

Wang Gui sneered and said: "He has hundreds of township soldiers in Tangyin, if there is no problem, do you think the Jin soldiers of Anyang County will let him go?" ”

Niu Gao slapped his thigh hard, "Yes! That's the question, how could he have an army under the nose of Jin Bing, even if he hid in the mountains, he just stayed in Tangyin County, which was too unreasonable. ”

After a pause, Niu Gao whispered again: "Will he have already surrendered to Jin Bing?" ”

"There shouldn't be, otherwise the fifth brother wouldn't be looking for him, I feel that he just has a tacit understanding with Jin Bing, he doesn't resist Jin, and Jin Bing doesn't trouble him, that's all."

Niu Gao pondered for a moment and said slowly: "You have a point, but I think we still can't stay for long, and we must go north as soon as possible." ”

Wang Gui nodded, "We won't spend the night here, we'll leave in an hour!" ”