There is an abnormal situation among the people in various parts of the territory of the Zucheng Army, and the soldiers who can still go out from time to time in the most Zhejiang military camp control and hiding "Pingsuri have been grounded, and even Bian Lian has been reduced, is he not preparing for a big war?" Is the imperial court ready to recover the two rivers? How did they know that the Hujie Township Army, with more than 10,000 troops, had received a military order from Xu Wei, the commander of the capital. It is now in combat readiness.

In late March, Ma Kuo, who was in Zhaode, sent a report to Xu Wei that most of the Li troops of the Weisheng army had withdrawn to the north, and the destination was believed to be Taiyuan. This shows that Li Zhi is gathering troops. Although it is not yet possible to determine what he wants to do, one thing is certain, he will never want to attack the rebels like Gao Shiyu. Hedong is too close to Shaanxi, and as soon as he moves, the Xu brothers in Dingrong in Tongzhou will not sit idly by.

By the beginning of April, the entire Shaanxi Sixth Road was in the middle. There are three roads in Shaanxi, Langyan, and Huanqing that are gathering troops on the orders of He Guan, and it is estimated that more than 50,000 Ma Bu troops will be mobilized. In addition, Xu Yuan of Jingyuan Road was also ordered to prepare for war, and judging from this, He Guan Shangguan took office to burn the first fire a little stronger. If Hedong can be recovered in one fell swoop, then this credit may even make him the "third duke." "Although in the Song Dynasty, the three dukes were only added officials.

In early April, the Shaanhua Road was slightly pacified and the general manager of the soldiers and horses, because of the meritorious advice, the Xuanfu Division and the Preparation Division also considered that the Shaanhua Road was close to Hedong. He has the best understanding of the situation in Hedong and appoints Qu Duan as the "envoy of the right to Hedong." "Location in Huazhou. The terms of reference of the Division are very clear in the official document. Entrusted with the heavy responsibility of money and food, the imperial court will have "special funds." The allocation was used to fund the Hedong Righteous Army, and the money was paid directly without going through the "Cao Division". If it's just financial power, there is another function of the Hedong Economic System Division that overlaps with the head of the Hedong Righteous Army, that is, in case of emergency, it can help the Righteous Army. It is even possible to command rebel armies.

In the Song Dynasty, the overlap of functions between various departments was a prominent and common problem. On the issue of the appointment of the "economic envoy", it is rumored that there is a discrepancy between the opinions of Li Gang, the envoy of Xuanfu, and He Guan, the envoy of the system, which may also be the one that Qu Duan's title is retained in front of it. "Right. The reason for the word.

"What is this called? Who knows the situation in Hedong? The righteous army is under the orders of Brother Jiu, and now Qu Dashuai is also a military envoy, so who will the Hedong righteous army listen to in the future? The matter was too inconsiderate Yang Yan complained and was very dissatisfied.

Ma Tai was holding a helmet in his hand, his face was sweaty, and he nodded in the world and said: "It's not appropriate, and Qu Shuai still has a festival with the head army, I'm afraid,"

Xu Wei didn't say a word, and came to the camp where the ordnance was stacked to inspect them one by one. He actually had an idea in his heart, and the imperial court began to pay attention to the righteous army, which was naturally a good thing. There is no problem with fighting the Jurchens and relying mainly on the regular forbidden army. However, if you rely solely on the army and do not widely mobilize the soldiers and civilians of the two rivers, it is difficult to say who will die in the end. The imperial court is now aware of this problem, which is beneficial to the overall situation of the anti-Jin resistance, but the attitude of Marshal Qu towards the righteous army makes him a little worried.

Due to his limited status, he still can't directly understand what kind of strategy the Xuanfu Division and the Preparation Division have formulated for the situation in Hedong, but a few days ago, he had stated Ma Kuo's opinion to Li Gang in person, which should attract attention. Yang Yan was still complaining there one after another, Xu Wei turned around and said: "Don't mention this matter in the future, the current march into Hedong is the top priority, we just do our part, and the rest,"

"Report!" Before he finished speaking, he heard a loud shout, and several horses galloped over. Several Hujie cavalry guards hugged one person, that person Xu Wei knew, he was a fierce general under Ma Kuo, surnamed Li Mingkun, in his early thirties. Born mighty and extraordinary, extremely relied on by Ma Kuo. He often runs between Hedong and Shaanxi.

That Li Waste came to Xu Wei, turned over and jumped off the horse, half-knelt and hugged his fists: Villain Li Chen, meet Manager Xu! ”

"Excuse me, say, but something happened in Hedong?" Xu Wei hurriedly asked.

After Li got up, he couldn't help but breathe out of his breath, and said in a deep voice: "Li Wei has gathered a large number of troops in the eastern part of Taiyuan Mansion and the Pingding Army, and the head of my family expects that he is preparing for the attack on Zhending!" ”

Taiyuan Mansion and Pingding Army are both bordering Zhending Mansion, Gao Shiyou's old nest, but if you abandon it from Pingding Army to Zhending, you will encounter five military fortresses, which are all fortresses where Hebei officials and troops were stationed in the past, and Gao Shiyou is entrenched in Zhending, and it is impossible not to use them. And so it goes. If Li Zhi wants to attack Zhending, his main force will definitely come out from the Taiyuan border. In this way, Li Zhi gathered his main forces in the east of Taiyuan, so the defenses of Liaozhou, Fanzhou, and Weisheng Army must be empty.

Li Zhi ignored the hundreds of thousands of rebels in the southeast border of the river. He did not hesitate to abandon the three towns and gather his troops in Taiyuan. He wouldn't have been able to do this if it hadn't been for the extraordinary changes. Is it that the country of Jin has already set a high reason? That's why he made this move? If the answer is yes, then now. It's a great time to plot against Li Zhi! Because judging from the current situation, no matter whether Li Zhi's attack is really in the way or not, his final result is not much better, and no one can say what the Jurchens will do with him. If there is one more option at this time, I believe he will consider it.

"Manager Xu, how should the Yishi of Hedong deal with it? The commanders of all provinces and states are looking forward to the commander-in-chief's decree! Seeing that Xu Wei was silent, Li Wei asked quickly.

Xu Wei thought for a moment and said, "After you go back, convey Brother Zichong and prepare according to the original plan." If Zhao'an can succeed, it is naturally the best. Once it doesn't go well, the Hedong Righteous Army must do a good job of occupying Liaozhou, Fanzhou, and Weisheng Army, and encircle Taiyuan Chuanchen on both sides! Potential preparation. At the same time, the bad should take into account Hebei, and prepare to take Huan to the level and test the reaction of the Jurchens. ”

When Li Chen heard this, he was quite excited, and said with a sigh of relief: "I am looking forward to planting a few times, just for today!" The 300,000 righteous troops in Hedong were all bullied to recover their homeland under the leadership of General Manager Xu! ”

Xu Wei smiled slightly, patted him on the shoulder and said, "Leave your hard work and return to Zhaode immediately." ”

"Yes!" Li Wei roared a tiger, and after bowing to Xu Wei again, he quickly climbed onto the horse. Gone from the dust.

Yang Yan glanced in the direction he was running to, and said, "Brother Jiu, this time it's a big deal!" Regain Hedong in one fell swoop! ”

Xu Wei shook his head: "Now is not the time for a counteroffensive, the main task of this dispatch of troops is to fight against the two forces of Li Zhi and Gao Shiyou, cut off the minions of the Jurchens, and boost the morale of the soldiers and people of Lianghe." ”

"Then" Yang Yan was stunned, "When will the two rivers be recovered and the golden dog driven out of the country?" ”

"I still want to go straight to Beijing and recapture the sixteen states of Yanyun, this is not something that can be succeeded by thinking about it. Let's take it one step at a time, as long as we take every step steadily, there will be a day. Xu Wei's eyes were deep and he said extremely seriously.

In April of the first year of Longxing, the entire war in North China was clouded. Shaanxi and Hedong are surging. And Hebei is in a mess. After Xu Zhang's Shandong Army and Zhangsuo's Hebei Army joined forces, all military arrangements were in accordance with Xu Zhang's orders. In the face of the vigorous and sweeping army of Gao Xiaogong, Xu Zhang's strategy was to lure the enemy deep and implement the encirclement. Gao Xiaogong's goal is undoubtedly a famous city. He may not care how many Song troops he can defeat, but he will definitely care about whether he can capture the Beijing Daimyo, and "trapping the Daimyo" is what Gao Shiyou urgently needs at present.

Xu Zhang grasped this point, first with a small number of troops to gradually attract Gao Xiaogong's main force to move in the direction of the Daiming City, and placed the main force of Xu Hong, Han Shizhong and others in the narrow area of the Maling Road Pass in the south of the Daiming City. On the left is the Wei River, and on the right is the canal. It is a meeting more than ten miles away, and there is no way to retreat. This battle is fought when the brave meet on a narrow road! It is said that the older the rivers and lakes, the more courageous they are. The generals of the East Hebei Army did not expect that Xu Shaobao would dare to be so dangerous when he was so old! Fortunately, Xu Hong, Han Shizhong, Yue Fei and other generals appointed by Xu Zhang are all young people in the army, and they are looking forward to killing generals and capturing the flag and making meritorious contributions. And Han Shizhong and Yue Fei both have a friendship with Xu Wei, and now they are working under Xu Zhang, so they are naturally extra attentive.

Just when the Great War in Hebei was imminent. The situation in Hedong has also reached a critical moment. After Li Gang and He Guan received the news that Li Zhi had assembled a large army and was ready to take a desperate move, he considered it again and again, and sent a high-ranking envoy to order Qu Duan to select elite soldiers and strong generals to escort him, and go to Taiyuan to persuade Li Zhi to change his course and rein in the precipice.

The official who lobbied Li Zhi, known as Wang Shu, served as the magistrate of Baoding County on Jingyuan Road, and when he was alive, he valued his talent and was transferred to Huaide Army to be judged, and his current position is Shaanxi transfer judge. That is, one of the three divisions of Jingzhao in order to investigate the "Hezhongfu incident" last time.

Li Zhi treasoned and became a thief, and as an envoy, he had to take a big risk. Before Wang Shu left, he had already made preparations for death, so he did not delay. But he had the only request, which was to let Xu Wei's troops protect him, and although Qu Duan was displeased, he still agreed to this suggestion, and asked Xu Wei to send his henchman Du Feihu to lead hundreds of people who dared to die, and escorted Judge Wang to Taiyuan under the banner of Hujie. Along the way, the Li army who stayed behind came to harass him several times, but when he saw Xu Wei's military flag, he did not dare to be presumptuous, so he was able to pass and go straight to Taiyuan.

Taiyuan Mansion used to be the period of five dynasties and ten kingdoms. The capital of the Northern Han Dynasty, after Zhao Guangyi conquered the Northern Han Dynasty, he managed this place well and used it as a military town, which has always been one of the two rivers and three towns. However, since the end of Xuanhe, Taiyuan has been plagued by wars and has been besieged by the Jin army twice, and the damage is great. After Li Zhi's treason. With this as a nest, the "Splendid Taiyuan City" was slightly restored. Hearing that Shaanxi had sent personnel to this point, Li Zhi was shocked and suspicious, although he let Wang Shu enter the city, he did not meet, but arranged for the Song envoy and his party to live in a temple in Taiyuan City. And send troops to closely monitor. Wang Shu asked to meet several times, but was denied. During this period, Li Zhi's subordinates led troops to storm the temple and vowed to kill the southern envoy. It was all thanks to Du Feihu to lead the army to protect him, so that the danger was turned into a disaster.

On April 16, when the full moon was in the sky, Wang Shu was so worried that he couldn't sleep several times, so he put on his clothes and walked out of the meditation room and walked into the courtyard. Seeing that the guards outside the room did not leave an inch, he sighed in his heart, Xu Jiuduan must be a capable general, and his subordinates are so well-trained.

Just as he was sighing, he suddenly heard footsteps outside. Someone was shouting and getting closer. The sound of slamming the door and kicking the table was endless, and Wang Shu was shocked. Suddenly I saw the firelight, and I was in shock. Suddenly, in the dark place in the courtyard, a figure flashed out of each of them. They all blocked the entrance with their weapons. On the wall upstairs, a lot of people appeared for no reason, and they all aimed at the door with bows and crossbows. This is not over, only the sonorous sound was heard, the iron collided, Du Feihu led a large group of people to set up the entrance of the Zen Temple, and the battle was solemn

Treat.

Two guards rushed forward, and one of them whispered, "Please go back to the house and take shelter." ”

As soon as Wang Shu's frightened energy passed, he gritted his teeth and said in a deep voice: "I have you and other guards, and I have the Shaanxi Sixth Route Army as the backing, why be afraid?" Li rebelled and betrayed the country and became a thief, I am here by order today, on behalf of Li Xuanfu, it is the imperial court, why do you want to shrink the tail? After speaking, he strode towards the door.

The guards were stunned for a moment, but they didn't expect that this Wang judge, as a civil minister, was like a stream of books drying fine concave and throwing off a different body clam", saying that reading is good to go outside

The blazing fire reflected the pillow knife in Du Feihu's hand, his thin face was full of resolute expression, and a pair of inverted eyes were staring closely at the people and horses who were running.

I saw the soldiers of the Li Army with swords and guns, surrounded by a general. The man was about twenty years old, and he was quite fat, and his face was full of violence, but he was not angry, and his eyes were round. This person is Li Zhi's second son, Li Meng, known as Xiao Zhang Fei.

Before arriving at the Zen Monastery, seeing Du Feihu blocking the door, Li Meng shouted: "Get out of the way!" Death to those who stand in the way! ”

Du Feihu made a move of his sword, and the Hujie soldiers who were blocked at the door neatly pointed their weapons forward, shouting in unison! Although there were only one hundred and ten people, the momentum of daring to be the first of ten thousand armies made Li Meng feel familiar, his brows furrowed, and he asked, "Who are you waiting for?" ”

Hu Jie Du Feihu was plain and the words came out, but Li Meng's face changed. Tiger Army? The troops of the Purple Tigers? The battle of Xiaoxishan impressed him too much! The tenacity of Xu Wei's style is really like a rock! Tiefutu will not collapse at it!

"When you are in Taiyuan, you are not afraid of death, aren't you?" Li Meng asked.

Du Feihu sneered when he heard this, looked around and said, "Brothers, answer this official." ”

"But there is a military order, if you don't win, you will die!" More than 100 soldiers shouted in unison.

When Li Meng heard this, he nodded: "The Purple Gold Tiger is worthy of its name, paused, and said, "On the orders of my father, I invited the southern envoy to meet with the commander's mansion." ”

The voice fell, and Wang Shu walked out of the Zen courtyard. His expression did not change: "Wait, when I change my clothes, I will go with you!" ”

In the city of Taiyuan, the original Hedong Xuanfu Tong Guan Office. Li Meng, who has now been changed to Li Zhi's Marshal's Mansion, gave Wang Shu a lot of courtesy and allowed him to come with Hujie Guards, but when he arrived at the main gate of the Marshal's Mansion, he stopped Du Feihu and said: "Those who carry out the army are not allowed to enter." ”

Du Feihu was about to speak, but Wang Shu said, "It's okay, you wait and wait here." ”

Li Meng also interjected: "Don't worry, in the name of the Purple Golden Tiger, I guarantee that the southern envoy will come out unharmed and lead Wang Shu into the Shuai Mansion."

From the foyer. Through the lobby, the second hall, until the courtyard at the back, every two steps, there is a soldier in full armor, chair knife and gun, this Taiyuan Shuaifu, why is it like facing the enemy? Is it deliberately demonstrating against me? Wang Shu's heart was shocked, and he strode even more highly, not squinting.

When it came to a side hall, there was no trace of soldiers. Li Meng also stopped outside the door, stretched out his hand and said, "Please." ”

Wang Shu hesitated for a moment, and raised his foot to cross the threshold. A cool breeze behind the steep feeling was like stepping into the underworld. Hold down the ups and downs of your mind. Keep going. The lights in the hall were transparent, but there was no one, and when Wang Shu was puzzled, he suddenly heard a voice say: "The southern envoy is here, but persuade me to fight back and regain allegiance to the imperial court?" ”

His heart jumped suddenly, and Wang Shu looked for prestige. But when he saw a person sitting quietly in the corner, under the shadow of the lamp and candle, he thought it was Li Zhi, so he said, "Exactly."

You can't see his appearance clearly until Li Zhi stands up and walks slowly to the hall. About fifty, he was not very tall, so that he sat in the shadows, and people could not appear for a while. Square face, draggy eyebrows, deep-set eyes, and pursed lips. A thick beard under the chin, almost like a broom.

"I came by order of the imperial court to say that the marshal is for the people of Hedong, and there is no need to hide it...... Xishu said frankly.

Li Zhi stared at him face to face, his voice was a little hoarse: "Tell me, what conditions did the imperial court offer?" ”

"As long as the marshal strikes back and is loyal to the country, the court can not blame the past. Marshal Old Ministry. No dismissal, no transfer, promotion of commanders and uniforms at all levels. The imperial court appointed the marshal as the prefect of Taiyuan, the envoy of Hedong, and promised the prince of Jianjie a series of preferential combinations drawn up by Li Gang.

Li Zhi listened to it and chuckled: "Envoy? So who is the Xuanfu envoy? ”

"This is naturally up to the court to decide." Wang Shu replied.

Li Wei suddenly laughed and said sharply: "I'll give you an idea!" How about re-transferring Na Fan Ne to Hedong and serving as the ambassador of Xuanfu again! ”

Wang Shu has also heard that in the past, Fan Ne Xuanfu Hedong. Before they were fully prepared, they forced their way into battle, which led to a great defeat. Li Zhi was humiliated in public by Fan Ne because he said something for help. But that doesn't justify your treason, does it? Besides, life is between heaven and earth. Loyalty is the foundation of life, and nothing can be used as an excuse to turn back on one's ancestors and rebel against the country.

Although Wang Shu was angry, he still remembered his mission, so he persuaded: "The marshal is angry, personal grievances are private, the country's righteousness is public, and private is abolished because of public affairs." It's not a gentleman's doing, now".

Li Zhi didn't wait for him to finish, and interrupted: "Li hasn't read a few sentences of sage books, so I don't understand you!" All I know is that I serve my country faithfully. But he was repeatedly insulted by the ministers. Now I voted for the Jurchens. On the contrary, he is in a high position, holding great power, sitting on the three armies and one government in the seven states of Hedong, with 100,000 horse infantry troops and 100,000 generals! Emperor Jin named me the pacification envoy and marshal of the soldiers and horses in Hedong, and promised me the whole territory of Hedong, why did I go back to my own son who was often suspected and plotted by people at that time? ”

Wang Shu saw that he was emotional, and said with a smile: "If the marshal is really ambitious, why are there so many sentries in this marshal's mansion?" Why did most of the Liao army withdraw to Taiyuan? ”