The situation in the northwest in May of the third year of Guangshun was quite confusing. In this month, General Li Wenge, who actually led the Eighth Route Army in Yanqing and Yanqing, launched a large-scale attack on the Dangxiang tribe of the Dingyan Army entrenched in the Hengshan Mountains. This time, the Northern Expedition route of the Eighth Route Army and the Zhejia Army was beyond everyone's expectations, they did not go out of the Luzi Pass and go straight to the Qingling Gate, and then drove straight into the traditional route under the Tongwan City, but went out of the Weiping Pass along the Wuding River to the east and captured the three counties under the jurisdiction of Suizhou in one fell swoop, and surrounded the state city, and forced the landing of the Yeli family, which ranked second in strength among the eight major tribes of the party.

One day in mid-May, the 100 cavalry of the Aluo Wang's department stationed at Qinglingmen marched south for more than 100 miles in only two days and nights, approaching the defense line of Luziguan. The main force was all drawn to participate in the Northern Expedition, and there was only one temporary battalion at Luziguan at the moment, and the whole battalion only had a veteran team of fifty people and three infantry composed of new recruits.

However, King Luo's raid was still in vain, not because of how strong these motley troops were, in fact, King Luo's subordinates had no chance to get close to the wall of Luzi Pass.

In fifteen months, Li Wenge has repaired the original dilapidated ruins into a real Xiongguan Mandao. Today's Luzi Pass is not just a long wall, but a town built in the plateau valley with a width of about 50 steps from east to west and 200 steps from north to south. The city wall made of unknown materials is as high as five zhang, which is almost close to the height of the city wall of Tongwan City. These jaw-dropping changes were not the root cause of the fearless old man's retreat, for the walls were tall and sturdy, and the odd shapes of the walls, though sinister, were only a threat when the attacking army approached them.

King Aro had no chance to get close to the walls.

The loess slopes in front of the city wall were excavated and piled up with hillocks at high ground level and trenches that curved vertically and horizontally, interspersed with five roads. But only one of them was really passable, and the rest of the roads were filled with pits two feet deep, with sharpened wooden wedges inserted into the bottoms, and six wooden watchtowers on the hillocks, and behind the moats near the inner side of the city walls were two lines of wooden horse-barring defenses, where the road was locked. Reject the back of the horse. It is two huge watchtowers of the same material as the city wall. Each watchtower is guarded by a soldier, and each watchtower is equipped with five crossbows, at which height can shoot any enemy who dares to rise in front of the position. The two watchtowers are stretched in a straight line, forming the long side of the trapezoid, and the two waists and the short side of the trapezoid are made up of the city wall.

Such a defense system, not to mention 600 cavalry, is tens of thousands of military horses, and it is difficult to overcome without large-scale siege tools.

King Aro lingered in front of the pass for two days, and finally demolished the two northernmost watchtowers and withdrew his troops.

However, this dispatch of troops also caused a certain panic in Yanzhou. On the night after receiving the warning, Lu Xun, the deputy commander of the box soldiers in Yanzhou, led 300 supplementary soldiers who had not yet completed the training of recruits to Luziguan in a new type of transportation -- a van-type four-wheeled carriage. It took only a month and a half for the carriage to be put into use. Many technical problems have not been completely solved, because the iron-making technology is not up to par, the horse-drawn carriage used to absorb the shock of the ground spring is made of pouring technology, the quality is not very good, mobilized overnight, broken down the carriage as many as 13.

Tossed all night, the military and political officials in Yanzhou stayed up all night. Even Li Bin did not have to rest. finally waited for everything to be straightened out, and Qin Gu, who had always been extremely trimmed, yawned and left without any image. The head of the transfer with a bitter face rubbed his temples and continued to gather craftsmen to repair the carriage, Li Bin stood in the hall and saw off the two, and was about to take advantage of no one to stretch his waist and be lazy, but he saw Xiao Ya, the director of the inspection, stepping in.

Li Bin secretly smiled bitterly and said, "Tianxing has something that can't be torn apart again?" ”

Xiao Yali didn't have an anxious look on his face, and after saluting, he said: "Prime Minister, the team of the imperial court's envoys is outside the south gate, and they were stopped by the police of the Public Security Section due to martial law in the state......

Coming to Yanzhou again, Wang Pu's state of mind is very different from a year ago.

When he came last year, he was just the envoy of the Lanzhou Festival, and he was not even a concubine in the Qincha team, and he just had a champion name.

However, this time, he has already paid homage to the Privy Councillor and the deputy capital, and he has sent eight hundred envoys to announce the edict.

This is just the starting point, now that the King of Jin is in power, it will take less time, and it is just a matter of time to enter the cabinet and worship the prime minister!

The good mood all the way was unhappy outside the south gate of Yanzhou. Because King Jin confessed before leaving, the sooner this will is delivered to Yanzhou, the better, and at this time, he must settle the heart of Yanzhou's civil and military, so this time, he, the envoy of the edict, rushed over day and night along the way. In other states and counties, it is good to say, as soon as he entered the border of Yanzhou Prefecture, he was inspected three or four times by the patrolling local regimental training, and when he arrived outside the city gate, it was exactly the middle of the night, and the guard sergeant in the city said that he would not open the city gate at all, which made this well-educated champion also can't help but be a little angry.

It was not until the light of day that the guards of the city opened the gates of the city, and a few people came out to inquire about the negotiations, but they were still not allowed to enter the city.

Wang Pu waited while looking up and down at these officers and soldiers.

It's true that these people are wearing standard robes, but how they look at it feel awkward.

The robes of these soldiers were dark black, the narrow cuffs were white, and the hoods on their heads were all black, except for the bottom circle of white, and they did not hold swords and guns in their hands, but each of them carried an iron rod of the same length. There are three characters sewn on everyone's chest, all of which are heavenly stem numbers, all of which start with the word "A". The last two words are different.

"Are you under the command of Li Jieshuai of the Eighth Route Army?"

Waiting and waiting, Wang Pu simply interrogated these soldiers who defended the city.

The leading officer bowed: "My lord misunderstood, we are not brothers in the army, there are still a few robes below, all of them are local inspectors under the jurisdiction of the State Administration and Cao Public Security Section, and their scientific name is called police!" ”

"...... the police?" Wang Pu frowned and slowly muttered the new term.

The inspector still said without humility or arrogance: "Exactly. The Public Security Division is on alert to detect theft, so the lowly people are called police ......."

Wang Pu shook his head with a smile, this Li Huairen, fresh tricks are always emerging, and even the head of the government service team who stood in the hall and patrolled the streets and did not enter the stream changed the beautiful name of "police".

Shaoqing City Gate opened, Li Bin personally led the civil and military officials of Yanzhou out of the city to greet him, and even said that Jiezhen sent troops to the state to govern martial law. Inconvenience to the mission. Repeated apologies. Although Wang Pu is famous all over the world, it is not easy to take advantage of Li Bin, who has added the title of envoy, and after being humble, he led the team into the city. On the way, Wang Pu paid close attention to observing, the civil official system in Yanzhou has not changed much, Qin Guwen and others are all with him, only one more old scholar with an ugly face and a furrow on his face, he does not recognize Xiao Yali, who is one of the troika of Yanzhou Mansion, only as a local person promoted by Li Wenxin, once a son of heaven and a courtier, Li Wenge seized the state power. It is also reasonable to have some changes in personnel. He wasn't surprised. However, for the new official titles of Qin Gu and others, Wang Pu took a lot of thought to think about it.

Different from the civilian system, the only military general who followed Li Bin to greet him this time was Zhou Zhengyu, who had just been added by the Privy Council a few days ago to the rank of a five-rank guerrilla general. That order was drafted by Wang Pu himself, so he couldn't help but look at him a few more times, Wang Pu had seen Zhou Zhengyu when he came to Yanzhou last year, so it was common to see him again this time.

The edict was read out in the Jiedu Mansion, and Li Bin knelt down on behalf of Li Wenge as an observer. The content of the edict is not unusual. Quelling the Gyeongju rebellion, the imperial court rewarded merit. Li Wenge's title was promoted from the inspection school Taibao to the inspection school Taifu, and the position of the Wei Mansion was promoted from the right Xiaowei general to the right guard general, and Li Wenge was also appointed as the military and political governor of Qingzhou.

Politely sent Wang Pu away, and the people in the palace gradually dispersed, but Li Bindi's expression became gloomy. Qin Gu saw it in his eyes, but he didn't say anything, and only after everyone was gone did he smile and speak: "Huairen inspects the school master, everyone is happy, and the prince is alone, but why?" ”

Li Bin waved his sleeves and said unhappily: "Zigu, don't be angry with me, is it a good thing for you to be this edict?" ”

Qin Gu was stunned when he heard this, and said: "This is the fact that the imperial court has approved Huairen's dispatch of troops to Gyeongju, isn't it good?" ”

Li Bin sighed and shook his head: "Although I don't know the inside story, the imperial court ...... It's a disagreement with Huairen......"

Qin Gu was shocked: "Why did Xianggong say this?" ”

Li Bin lit the edict in the hall and said: "Whether it is the master of the Jiatai or the general of the right guard, it is nothing more than an ordinary trick of enveloping, so you can ignore it." The edict ordered Huairen to know the military and political affairs of Gyeongju, which is ironclad evidence that the people in power are suspicious of Huairen! ”

Qin Gu was even more puzzled: "This is obviously trust, how can it be suspicion?" ”

Li Bin sneered: "If it is really trusted, it should not just be sent by Gyeongju, but directly to Huairen or me to add Gyeongju to the assassination of the history of the ministry." This edict is not like today's style, it seems to be generous but secretly narrow-minded, if my guess is right, it should be the head and tail of the king of Jin! ”

Qin Gu pondered for a long time and asked, "What does Xianggong mean, is this the King of Jin compromising with Huairen?" ”

Li Bin turned his head and sighed: "If you are in power, and Li Huairen swallows Gyeongju in one gulp, how should this matter be handled?" ”

Qin Gu thought for a long time, but he didn't know the essentials, Li Bin said: "I mean, according to the regulations, how should I deal with it?" ”

Qin Gu didn't hesitate this time: "Naturally, it is to reward his merits, and then send another assassin to take over Gyeongju!" ”

Li Bin stroked his beard and nodded: "Yes, if I am the prime minister, it must be handled like this." Even though Huairen was dissatisfied, he could not openly resist the annexation of Gyeongju, unless he wanted to raise the banner to rebel now. ”

Qin Gu was a little unimpressed: "It is also natural to be afraid of Huairen's emotions, after all, now he is leading his troops in front to collect the northwest for the imperial court." It's always bad to make him unhappy at this time! ”

Li Bin nodded: "If it is today, of course I will think so." He was an open-minded and honest man who did things happily and simply. Since you want to envelop Huairen. If a Gyeongju is given up, it will be given up, even if Huairen is in charge, Gyeongju is also the land of the Great Zhou Dynasty. Although he used scheming methods, he was not suspicious! ”

Qin Gu continued: "Now the edict only allows Huairen to know the affairs of Qingzhou, and the prince thinks it is a plan to delay the army of the Jin Dynasty?" ”

Li Bin sneered: "Chai Rong is young after all, although he has a city government. But he was short of insight and knowledge, he left such a foreshadowing, he thought he was clever, and he could hide it from Huairen, but he couldn't hide it from the old man! ”

Qin Gu was silent.

Li Bin sighed and said: "At this time, he seized the power of Huairen Qingzhou, not only the government and the opposition have to criticize the court for being unkind, but also talk about reality. The Gyeongju tribes are now part of the Eighth Route Army. The newcomer stabbed Shi Zhizhou, what waves can a single person make in Gyeongju? At that time, as long as Huairen withdraws his troops and uses some means, Gyeongju's erosion again is just a matter of rebellion. Chai Rong pushed the boat down the river this time, and he thought about these things clearly. He had just ascended to the storage position, and he didn't want to be accused of being unkind, but wanted to keep a good name. This idea was originally good, but this thorn in his heart was always uncomfortable, so he left his back hand, and Zhizhou was not a straight body in the end. Just wait until the war subsides and the situation in the northwest is stable. As long as a thorn is officially appointed, Gyeongju is not in the hands of the imperial court? ”

Qin Gu smiled bitterly: "So calculating...... Lanzhou is also a well-known person, shouldn't it be so narrow-minded? ”

Li Bin sighed: "I can't complain about him, Guo Wei is the son of heaven who sat on the throne with swords, guns, swords and halberds for half his life, and he doesn't look down on Huairen's turf career." Chai Rong is not enough in terms of prestige or morality, once he ascends the throne. There is such a big land as Huairen, and a feudal town lies in Guanzhong. He couldn't sleep! ”

Qin Gu shook his head and sighed: "Although this calculation is precise, after all, there is no pattern. Besides, the imperial court can't do anything about Gyeongju now, can there be a way after the northwest war situation is determined? ”

Li Bin sneered and narrowed his eyes: "There are land power schemes here, and a gentleman like Zigu naturally can't think of it!" ”

Qin Gu frowned: "I want to hear it!" ”

"People's hearts!" Li Bin said firmly, "The key is the hearts of the people, Huairen is now quite popular in Yanqing, and his reputation in the court is not bad, and the saints in the Son of Heaven are also quite good." At this time, when I came to make a fuss about the affairs of Gyeongju, I was not convinced, and the emperor may not be willing to admit it. Therefore, now I can only admit that Huairen temporarily led the military and government of Gyeongju, and first ended up with a good reputation of caring for the border generals and maintaining the good reputation of the feudal town. When Huai Ren eliminated the party, it was a great merit, and then the opportunity to divide his power came! ”

Qin Gu's eyebrows rose suddenly, but he heard Li Bin continue without hesitation: "Once it is difficult to make a military decision, Huairen will naturally be rewarded, and when the time comes, whether it is the prince of the country or the captain, just add the title of no money." However, it is a great achievement, Huairen is always embarrassed to swallow it alone, up and down Yanzhou, the army will be ben, and there will be a reward. The knowledge is here! ”

Qin Gu's face had already turned pale.

Li Bin said with a faint sarcasm on his face: "When the time comes, as long as there is an edict to appoint Zigu as the assassin of Gyeongju, is Huairen embarrassed to refuse?" If he disobeys, not only will the government and the opposition say that he is not kind, but also the people in Yanzhou, it will inevitably be secretly blamed for not being a friend enough! Under the internal and external difficulties, even if Huairen knew that this was a bowl of poison, I am afraid that he would have to swallow it! ”

Qin Gu gasped and took over the conversation: "At that time, there will be at least three or four states in the newly beaten territory, and the imperial court will either seal Shen Chen, Wei Xun and others or seal the history or the festival, and then seal the states and counties in the north to the Zhe family, and the situation created by Huairen will be torn apart in an instant!" It's really a poison plan for two peaches to kill three soldiers......"

Li Bin smiled faintly: "Who doesn't have the heart to be high, it is Zigu, doesn't he have the ambition to take charge of a county and use his means?" Although this plan is simple, it is performed against the hearts of the people, how can a martial artist without scheming be such a scheming opponent? ”

Qin Gu nodded: "This is a dead end, although I can see through it, I can't deal with it!" ”

Li Bin shook his head: "If you think so, Chai Rong won't, although this method is absolutely perfect, he doesn't know if it can work for Huairen, so he will send Wang Pu to announce the edict this time, in order to probe the hearts of the people in Yanzhou again!" ”

Qin Gu rubbed his temples and said: "The battle ahead is in full swing, but this champion has come to add to the chaos, it's really a headache!" ”

Li Bin sighed softly, slowly closed his eyes, and said softly: "After the difficult army, if Huairen is not self-reliant, this dead end will be difficult to break......"