"Xu Xiang." In the busy capital hall of the three provinces of Zhongshu, the subordinate officials saluted Xu Liang who stepped into the door. Xu Liu bowed his head frequently, and when he was going to his office, Zhu Zhuo, the governor of the political affairs, called him.

"What?" Xu Liu asked.

"Jin Guo sent a document over, I don't know what the specifics are, but the document was taken away." Zhu said.

Xu Liu was unhappy when he heard this: "Didn't I tell you that if there are important documents, I will wait for me to ...... them" At this point, he himself felt bored, Zhe Yanzhi and him are both prime ministers, and their duties and powers overlap, what can he do, Zhe Yanzhi can do it, what can the people below? Glancing towards the hall of Zheyan, he saw that the door was open, and there was no one in sight, and he said suspiciously, "What about people?" ”

"I guess I left the capital hall after reading the paperwork and went to the palace." Zhu Zhuo said.

Xu Liu thought for a moment, then withdrew and went out. Hurried to the "Qinzheng Hall", but the emperor was not in the other, inquired, said that it was in the vertical arch hall, and hurried along the road to walk in, halfway to meet the emperor and a close inner shì, said that the emperor was ordered to summon Xu Xiang.

Xu Liu scolded secretly, his footsteps were like flying, and when he arrived at the vertical arch hall, he saw that the emperor and Zhi Yanzhi were discussing something, as soon as he came, the emperor said: "Xu Qing, it is just in time, there is an important matter that needs to ask your opinion." ”

Xu Liu saluted and glanced at Zhi Yanzhi, who seemed to be fine, and then asked the emperor: "I don't know what happened when Your Majesty summoned his ministers?" ”

Zhao Jin didn't answer, and said, "Zheqing, you say." ”

"Yes." Zhi Yan answered, turned to Xu Liudao, "Xu Xiang, it's like this." This morning, a division sent a document from the state of Jin, which was written by Yan Bingde, the political affairs of Jin Tingpingzhang. It is said that recently, there have been Khitan border people who have defected across the border. The Jurchens originally wanted to crack down hard, but they were afraid of the king of Taiyuan County, so they hoped that the imperial court could help. ”

"Khitan border people? Defected? Where is it fleeing? Xu Liu asked.

"Do you need to ask? At the beginning of the eradication of Xia, we occupied the first line of Hengshan Tiandu Mountain, and the rest of the place belonged to the Liao people. The Khitans under the rule of the Jurchens defected, and they must have fled to the Xia realm and defected to Xiao Duolu. Orihiko asked.

Xu Liu is an expert, and he understands it as soon as he hears it. It is said that the people fled under this rule, and the Jurchens themselves could suppress it. It's just that the Khitans could only flee from the three prefectures of Linfu and Feng, which were controlled by the Western Army, and then fled to the Xia realm. I haven't heard Lao Jiu say this, but it doesn't mean that he doesn't know, the reason why he didn't react may be that he didn't reach a tacit understanding with Xiao Duolu.

"Xu Qing, how do you think this matter should be handled?" Zhao Jin asked.

"Your Majesty, the court still doesn't care about this matter. If we say that we assist the Jurchens to intercept the Khitan border people at the border, this is an act to offend the Liao State. Xu Liudao.

Zhi Yanzhi immediately took over the conversation: "But if you don't care, you will offend the Jurchens." ”

"Well, it's easy. The court replied to the Jurchen, and said that he was willing to help, and when he got to the king of Taiyuan County, he knew what to do. Just perfunctory. Xu Liang said.

This is very much in line with the emperor's taste, that's right, more things are better than less things, if you can't offend, you can't be offended, why bother asking for trouble? Then he said: "Well, Xu Qing's words are very true, the Liao State continues to increase its troops in the Xia Realm, as the King of Taiyuan said, this is a potential threat to Sichuan and Shaanxi. If you help the Jurchens, I am afraid that they will stab the Liao people. ”

The emperor said so, and Zhi Yanzhi naturally didn't say anything more. After the discussion, the two of them came out to bid farewell to the emperor, and as soon as they crossed the threshold, Xu Liu said: "Fold, in the future, this kind of thing, will you and I discuss it first?" ”

Oriyan smiled and groaned: "Xu Xiang is not strange, so the matter is urgent, so I will take the first step." Xu Xiang won't mind, right? ”

Xu Liu also chuckled: "What do you say?" ”

"You don't mind." Orihiko said.

"Haha......" Xu Liuda laughed and walked away. Orihiko looked at him and sighed suddenly.

Linfu Road, Fengzhou. During the Song-Liao War, Fengzhou has always been the bridgehead of the war against Liao, and it is a dagger placed under the nose of the Liao State. After the Western Army recovered here, it set up a pacification division, but in fact, it was still Gui Yan Yanjing to pacify Xu Hong, and the governor of Linfu Road was Xu Hong's son. In view of the complex situation and historical origins here, the Sichuan-Shaanxi Xuanfu Disposal Division implements the system of integration of military and political affairs here. In other words, the military and political governor of Fengzhou is the same person, he is not only the governor of Fengzhou, but also the commander of the army, and he is also a member of the party. This person's surname is Wang, is the descendant of the original Fengzhou Wang family, you know, Linzhou Yang family, that is, the legendary Yang family generals, Fuzhou Fold family, that is, Fold family army, Fengzhou Wang family, these three have always been the heroes of Linfu Road, basically all generations of guards, father dies and son replace, brother and brother.

Wang Zhizhou started early in the morning, ordered all the military officials under his command, and then all went out of the city and lined up in the south of the city. I have already gotten the news, and the Xuanfu Disposal Department sent personnel to inspect the Lin Mansion, and all localities must not be lazy.

"It's all in good spirits, this person is not only the king's personal choice, but also the yamen of our Western Army, if there is a mistake, the king can't eat the sin!" Wang Zhizhou is a typical rugged soldier, and he listened to him early in the morning.

The sun rose three poles, and the governors had not yet arrived, and the officials of Toyosu began to whisper and discuss, didn't they say that it was here today? As they were talking, they heard the sound of horses' hoofs in a hurry. Everyone craned their necks to look, and saw a team of horses coming in the dust, running very fast. Wang Zhizhou picked up the hem of his official robe and stepped forward to greet him.

The horse team stopped, and Wang Zhizhou saw a person first, his face changed, and he hurriedly bowed down: "Young marshal!" ”

There was a man on the horse's back, in his thirties, who fell off the horse lightly, but although he was only more than six feet long, he was very good-looking! The high tǐng nose, the two brooms under the eyebrows, the tiger's eyes are blazing, the wind and sand in northern Shaanxi blow the skin like copper and iron, it is not someone else, it is the eldest son of Xu Hong, the nephew of the king of Taiyuan, Xu Yong. Now he is the deputy head of the soldiers and horses of the Yan Yan Jingluo Pacification Division, and the pacification envoy of Linfu Road, and he is Wang Zhizhou's top boss. It's just that there are some traditions in the Western Army that are different from those of other brother troops, so the officials below generally don't call him the title when they see Xu Yong, because his son is the marshal of Yan Yan, and his son is naturally called "young marshal" or "little marshal".

Xu Yong accompanied his boss to inspect today, and he didn't dare to ask for it, so he introduced to a person next to him: "This is the preparation of the Xuanfu Disposal Division, and Wu is preparing." "Needless to say, it was Wu Gong who came back from Xingzai. Although he is only a seventh grade, half a level lower than Xu Yong, but because he came down from a higher authority, he is naturally more majestic.

Wang Zhizhou knew that he was the son of Wu Jue, so he was extremely respectful, and after saluting respectfully, he said: "Zhifeng Prefecture and soldiers and horses are under the jurisdiction of Wang Yi, and I have seen the chief. ”

Wu Gong smiled at Xu Yong: "This chief can't afford to be a leader, but he was appointed by the king to come to the place to ask for benefits." ”

"Hey, Brother Wu is too polite, these are Fengzhou civil and military officials, brother has come to see it." The two are of the same age, and they have had several faces, so they are close and are commensurate with brothers.

After the ceremony, Wang Zhizhou invited Wu Gong into the city, but the latter said: "This time I came to Fengzhou, and the king specially gave an errand to the envoy. Wang Zhizhou, let me ask you. ”

"Sir, excuse me." Wang Zhizhou Road.

"What has been the situation on the border for most of the past six months?" Wu Gongdao.

"Back to sir, the Jin army doesn't have any unusual movements. It's just that as reported some time ago, many Khitan and Xi people in the three western states tried their best to sneak across the river and use Fengzhou to sneak into the summer realm. Humble to the boss's order, if this is no one to chase, no one to catch, just open one eye and close one eye to let him pass, if there is Jin Jun chasing, there is no choice but to block back. Wang Zhizhou reported.

Wu Gong listened, was silent for a while, and said after a while: "I won't enter the city today, you guys go back and get busy, I will go to Baoning Village with the young marshal." ”

"That being the case, the lowly duty should be accompanied." Wang Zhizhou Road. After finishing speaking, he instructed the civil and military officials of Fengzhou to go back to work, and he went to Baoning Village with Xu Shaoshuai and Wu Preparation.

This Fengzhou place is small, in addition to the state city, there are only three villages and one fort in the territory, this Baoning village is the northernmost close to the Song and Jin borders of a military village. There are more than 2,000 soldiers, Zhizhai is a fierce general under Xu Hong, and he has made military achievements several times in the three western states.

Before noon, the group had already arrived at Baoning Village, and did not go to alarm the relevant officials, and went directly to the border. In these places in Shaanxi, the ravines are vertical and horizontal, the terrain is extremely complicated, and the two people standing in the kan can hear what they are saying, and if they really want to meet, they have to walk for most of the day. Xu Yong and Wu Gong and their entourage went north along the post road, and came to see a sentry post, only to see that both sides were cliffs, no vegetation and trees, nothing to hide, and a zigzag path in the middle, only allowing three or five people to pass side by side. The officers and soldiers stationed here pulled the horses to block the road, and a few miles further on, it was the Yongbyon Prefecture of the Jin State.

"Brother Wu, there is a high hill in front, and you can overlook Jin Guoningbian on the plateau, go and see?" Xu Yong suggested.

"Okay, take a look!" Wu Gong responded, and went straight to the sentry card with his entourage. Because they were wearing official uniforms, the border army knew that a commander was coming, but when they got closer, they felt that they didn't know each other, so they had no choice but to stop. Wait for your identity to be identified before you can pass.

"Oh, why did the young marshal come to our place?"

"It is estimated that it is to prepare for the expedition, the king has received Taiyuan, and the matter in Hedong is over, and the next one must be the Northern Expedition to Yanyun."

"Hey, I heard that Emperor Shenzong made a rule when he was alive, saying that there is a person who restores Yanyun and is crowned king, isn't it ......"

"You donkey, our king is already a king, and you still need to seal it?"

This Xu Yong and Wu Gong walked out of the path, and saw that a high hill was raised, and there were fortifications on the hill, and there were also soldiers guarding it. Abandoned the horse and climbed the plateau, the terrain in front of him was a little wider, Xu Yong pointed to the northeast and said: "That end is the Jinguo Ning Border Prefecture, let our Yan Yan army break it several times, and the city was burned to him twice." Because of this, kings are not rare. According to the investigation, the Jin State was already planning to abandon Yongbian and retreat across the Yellow River, and now there is not even a Zhizhou there, so a military leader with hundreds of soldiers guards the broken city. ”

Wu Gong smiled when he heard this: "The Yan Yan army is mighty. ”

While talking, Baoning Zhai Zhizhai got a report, and heard that the young marshal had come down, so he hurried to meet him. Wu Gong only realized the status of the Xu family's father and son in Yan Yan at this time. You think that this Baoning Zhizhai is a fierce general, charging on the battlefield, not afraid of arrows and stones, but the five big and three rough men have not looked up in front of Xu Yong, asking and answering, and dare not say more than half a word.

"Here we go again." The sergeant suddenly called out.

"What's coming?" Wu Gong asked.

Na Baoning Zhizhai raised his head and looked at the original and replied: "Back to the words of the chief, this is the people who fled from the Golden Realm, and there are often people every three or five times. ”

Wu Gong looked down and saw more than a dozen people, men and women, old and young, running on the path below, and there was a faint sound of children crying. Looking behind me, a group of soldiers with guns and knives were chasing, and they were about to catch up. But those soldiers suddenly stopped, didn't hesitate, and just turned around and left.

This couldn't help but make Wu Gong suspicious of what Wang Zhizhou said just now, if there are chasing soldiers, he would block back, and looked sideways, Wang Zhizhou's face was not normal, and he ordered Baoning Zhizhai: "Don't block back quickly!" ”

"Don't worry." Wu Gong stopped, "Go down and have a look." ”

That Wang Zhizhou and Baoning Zhizhai glanced at each other, and they were both frightened, but there was no way to do it if there was an order from above, so they could only follow behind with a hard head. After descending from the hill and coming to the outpost, the dozen or so people had already approached. If you look closely, they are all dressed as Jurchens, bald, with braids, several young and strong in front, and old and weak women in the back. One by one, panting, they were looking at the heavily armed Song Jun in front of them. There was a fù person, and the child in her arms kept crying, so panicked that she put her hand to cover the doll's mouth.

I don't know why, this group of people didn't come up, just a few steps in front of the rejection of the horse and watched blankly, it was estimated that Xu Yong and Wu Gong's official uniforms scared them.

After a while, the young men were discussing something, and at the end, a strong man carried a few burdens, and came forward tremblingly, and wanted to say something through the rejection of the horse, but he couldn't say it.

"Let him come, I have something to ask." Wu Gong ordered. Although his official rank is not high, he is a member of his boss, representing the Sichuan-Shaanxi Xuanfu Disposal Division, and representing the king of Taiyuan County, so he should naturally call the command.

But the order went down, the soldiers didn't move, Xu Yong saw it, and shouted: "Didn't you hear the order prepared by Wu, let that man come over!" ”

The soldiers at the sentry post went up in a honeycomb, moved their horses, and brought the man over. Wu Gong saw that he estimated that he was about forty years old, very strong, but his body was still wet, as if he had been in the water. His mouth was pale, his expression was flustered, and his eyes kept looking at the person in front of him.

"Where are you from? What are you doing here? Wu Gong asked.

The man looked dazed, just shook his head, it turned out that he couldn't understand Chinese, and Wang Zhizhou next to him hurriedly came forward and said a few words, and the man spoke.

"Sir, he said that they are the Khitans who are still north of Yongbyon Prefecture, and there are two families here, they are neighbors, and they have made an appointment to flee together." Wang Zhizhou translated.

"Where to flee?" Wu Gong asked again.

After Wang Zhizhou asked, he replied: "They want to transit from Fengzhou, go out of Dalin Mansion, follow the Hengshan Line to Xiazhou, and then go from Xiazhou to Xingqing Mansion to Xiao Duolubu." ”

As soon as he finished speaking, a twenty-year-old entourage behind Wu Gong immediately added: "Ready, this man also said that as long as you leave the Lin Mansion, there will be a response arranged by the Liao." ”

Wang Zhizhou's heart was shocked! Their Wang family has been guarding Fengzhou for generations, dealing with the Khitan people, so he is coarse in Khitan, and he was originally glad that the language is not comprehensible, so Wu Bei can only listen to my translation, but he doesn't want to, people bring an interpreter.

Wu Gongmian was as usual, and said: "You ask him again, why do you want to escape, isn't it good to be in the Jin Kingdom?" ”

After the entourage asked, I saw that the man had a bitter face, and said something with gestures, and when it was over, it was translated to say that the Khitans had been rising up in recent years, rebelling against the tyranny of the Jin State, and were severely suppressed by the Jurchens. The Jin State migrated a large number of Jurchens from the north to the Liao border, and in order to prevent the Khitans from making trouble, they even let two Jurchen households guard against one Khitan family. Under such high pressure, how could the life of the Khitans be better?

At this time, a legend spread among the Khitan and Xi people. Although Emperor Dashi, who said that he was recovering in the Western Regions, died, his queen and crown prince were still determined to restore the country, and now they have the land of Western Xia, and they are short of people. As long as it is the Khitan and Xi people, or even the Han people in the original Yanyun area, they fled to the past and arrived safely. Land shall be given to livestock, and those who are willing to serve as soldiers will be given preferential treatment.

Under this rumor, the Khitans, Xi people, and Han people fled from the Song-Jin border at the risk of being killed.

Subsequently, Wu Gong also asked that the Jurchens' crackdown on this kind of escape was getting stronger and stronger. The first people who were caught fleeing were only men detained for slavery, women were not slaves, and all family property was confiscated. Later, because this trend could not be stopped, the punishment was increased, and all those who fled were all executed as adults. And the latest policy is to sit together, flee a family, and the neighbors do not report, all of them will be punished! It's no wonder that these two families want to run away in tandem!

Wu Gong looked behind him, and saw the men and women, old and young, all anxious and afraid, anxiously waiting. His eyes fell on the few burdens that the man was holding tightly in his hands, and he asked, "What is in this baggage?" ”

After the Khitan man understood, he squatted down and opened the baggage, only to see that some of them were animal skins, some had been made into clothes, and the things were simply full of tricks, including copper mirrors, copper coins, and a few broken silver ingots the size of thumbs. The man said something in his mouth, and his hand kept pushing forward, as if he wanted to give these things to Wu Gong.

At this time, Wu Gong's heart was already bright, he turned his head and said to Wang Zhizhou with a smile: "Don't you say a few words?" ”

Wang Zhizhou was sweating profusely, and the generals who were afraid of death on the battlefield were also panicked at this time, and Xu Yong was also a little embarrassed on his face, and shouted: "Still tell the truth? ”

"Yes!" Wang Zhizhou responded, and then he told the truth. "Go back to Wu and prepare, young marshal, at first these Khitans fled here, and the officers and soldiers did not let go. But he could not bear his pleading, and seeing that they were pitiful, he let him go, but this was only a special case. Later, these fugitives also brought a few furs and a few things to beg the soldiers guarding the border to let them go. Over time......"

This Wang Zhizhou is not bad, he could have pushed this matter on Baoning Zhizhai, saying that he didn't know anything.

"Bastard! Straight sissy thief! Do you know what this is? How do you tell me to explain to Uncle Nine! A herd of donkey days! Xu Yong said angrily.

He roared, went up to Zhizhou, went down to Baoning Zhizhai, and even the soldiers at those checkpoints knelt on the ground. Wu Gong listened to it on the side, Xu Shaoshuai scolded his subordinates, and said it to himself, he was not called "King", but "Ninth Uncle", which was to bring out his identity as the nephew of the prince of Taiyuan County.

Wu Gong also understood, and immediately said: "The young marshal is angry for the time being, I still have something to ask." ”

Xu Yongtie blushed, twisted his head to the side, and heard Wu Gong ask: "When these people enter my realm, aren't you afraid of making trouble?" ”

"Back to the sir, if anyone enters the country, the border army will send people to monitor and send them all the way out of the Fengzhou territory." Wang Zhizhou Road.

"And how much do you have to do?" Wu Gongdao.

"No, if anyone is fleeing, there will be as few as three or five people, or as many as a dozen people, and a few soldiers will be able to watch it. Moreover, this situation does not happen every day, and there are only so many batches every three or five days. In addition, Toyosu is not the only route, and I heard that some people take a detour due north through the desert. Wang Zhizhou said.

Wu Gong listened, nodded, and didn't say anything more. When I looked at the two Khitans again, I was already frightened. When they saw this commotion, Song Jun knelt down, thinking that something bad was wrong! Don't say not to go today, I'm afraid that xìng's life will be difficult to protect! When he was in despair, he saw that the official said something to the Khitan speaker, and then the man said, "Let's go." ”

The Khitan man didn't dare to take the things on the ground, so he hurriedly turned around, passed through the rejection horse, shook his hands like water, and told the two families to hurry back. The old and the young are all dead, and they all run back, as for whether they will run back and meet Jin Jun whether they are dead or alive, they can't care about it for the time being.

But as soon as he walked a few steps, he heard someone behind him calling, "Hey, where are you going?" Our officials let you cross the border! ”

Hearing this, the two Khitans couldn't believe it! After being stunned for a moment, Fang broke into laughter, happily, and thanks a thousand thanks, he passed through the rejection horse again and stepped into the territory of the Great Song Dynasty. Wang Zhizhou, who was kneeling on the ground, did not forget to give an order at this time: "Send someone to follow." ”

There was an old Khitan lady who passed by Wu Gong's side, and she was still worshipping him as if she was worshipping the Buddha.

After the fugitives left, Wang Zhizhou's group was still kneeling on the ground, Wu Gong looked funny, and said, "Get up." ”

This time, Wang Zhizhou and the others learned well, and they didn't dare not take Wu Gong's order seriously, so they got up, lowered their heads, and didn't dare to look up. Wu Gong glanced at the "tribute" of the Khitan fugitives on the ground, turned around and walked back. Xu Yong followed him closely and apologized again and again: "It's because I have no way to govern the army, and after I go back, I will report to my uncle and ask for guilt." But I really don't know about this matter, and my father doesn't know about it at all. ”

Wu Gong smiled: "Okay, young marshal, I didn't say anything." ”！。