After Zhou Qingwei returned from Xiazhou with the guide sent by Li Yiyin, Xue Juzheng led his troops to set off from Lingzhou, passed through the Mingsha Mountain area fifty miles south of Mingsha County, and entered the territory of the Yeci clan's party members.

After crossing the Weiru water, when arriving at the south of the Feng'an Army set up in the Tang Dynasty, that is, the south bank of the Yellow River in Zhongwei today, when passing through a valley, it was ambushed by horse thieves, blocked in the valley for two days, and the counterattack suffered hundreds of casualties, and was forced to hand over the goods due to the lack of water for men and horses, so that they were able to retreat safely and returned to Shuofang Mingsha County.

"Humph! This is a good thing done by the party members, pretending to be horse thieves to ambush, extorting goods and acting as good people, and blaming the Qingtang party in the south. Zhang Yue said angrily after reading the military report.

"Everyone knows it, but this thing is not easy to do!" Suo Wanjin put down his pen, smiled bitterly and said: "I received the Shuofang Express last night, and I have written a chapter and sent it to Tokyo overnight. If you have any suggestions, please make up for them. ”

Zhang Yue said with a calm face: "I sent two commanders to accompany me, but I suffered such a big loss, I have to think about this matter, Suo Dashuai, you are busy, you can be summoned at any time if you have something, and you will retire for the time being!" ”

Zhang Yue went out and saw Han Sheng and others under the eaves, so he beckoned him to go to the Shuaifu Post House to rest temporarily. Many of the attendants here knew Zhang Yue, and when they saw that the two were sitting in the hall, they immediately came over to serve tea.

After the servants retreated, Zhang Yue took out the military report to Han Sheng, and when he saw that he finished reading it, he couldn't wait to speak: "Do you think the current situation of our Great Zhou can use troops against Huizhou?" ”

"The key lies in the emperor's will, but what is the benefit of taking it down? War horses can also be obtained from Lingzhou, but they are just more expensive. Qingtang Qiang is a behemoth, Li Yiyin is not easy to mess with, don't take Huizhou, stabbed the hornet's nest and disturbed the northwest border, it will not be worth the loss. I don't know what the emperor thinks, the princes of the court will definitely see it this way. Han Sheng spoke eloquently.

"Not necessarily! His Majesty must have been very annoyed when he received the report, it was to exchange for 5,000 war horses and goods worth 30,000 yuan, so he was wasted, and he received a loud slap in the face, I am afraid that this evil breath is difficult to bear, right? And this is the letter I wrote to His Royal Highness the King of Jin before, talking about buying horses in Shuofang to open a border market, so the King of Jin made a statement to His Majesty, and now that this has happened, how can His Royal Highness the King of Jin end? ”

"What?" Han Sheng was taken aback, and said with a wry smile on his face: "This is what happened after I left Yanzhou, right?" You really got into big trouble, and Brother Xiaode didn't persuade you? ”

"There's nothing wrong with Shuofang opening a border city, right? Who knew that the emperor actually sent Xue Juzheng to Hexi to announce the decree and bring so many goods, it should be said that it was not all my reason, but it was also a little related. Now is not the time to be negligent, at least to get the goods back! Otherwise, His Royal Highness the King of Jin will stink, and my future will end here! ”

"So you're going to Shuofang? Or go back to Tokyo to face the saint? "Han Sheng's reaction is also very fast, Xue Juzheng is also a heavy minister, and Feng Jiye is here, even if he can get the goods back, Zhang Yue can't intervene when he goes, naturally there is no credit, and the result is the same. Only when you go back to Tokyo, simply persuade the King of Jin, or directly face the king to use troops, this is at least an attitude.

"It's useless for Shuo Fang to go, Brother Xiaode is estimated to be coming back with the caravan. You help me write a chapter, just say that I want to return to Beijing to report on my work, and write a letter to His Royal Highness King Jin, and send it back to Tokyo by military post and horse. If this happens, the officials of Zhongshu should not delay, and they will have to send their own soldiers to send it. ”

Han Sheng took pen and paper to make a draft, Zhang Yue helped him polish the ink, still after writing, Zhang Yue copied it again, and then signed it in the signature, stamped it with a big seal, and after the ink dried, it was packed in a file bag of kraft paper, and then asked Suo Wanjin to approve it as an emergency military report, and then sent his own soldiers to the state government to send it to the soldiers to join the army.

Zhang Yue then said goodbye to Suo Wanjin and left Han Sheng in the state city, which was not only convenient for Suo Wanjin to summon him, but also waited to welcome Feng Qianhou, Zhang Quanxu and others back. As for the two commands of Xuan Chongwen and Quan Daojin, they must obey Xue Juzheng's orders.

Back in Jincheng County, Zhang Yue continued to be busy with the construction of his ranch, and the horse farm could only be suspended, without the approval of the DPRK and China, but the cowshed or something could be done, and the orchard and mountain land should also go through the formalities and prepare to start opening up the wasteland.

Li Deliang has not left yet, just at this time, the wineries have been built one after another, and a batch of soju and rice wine with a slightly lower degree have been brewed. Zhang Yue waved his hand, transferred all the money to Li Deliang, and sent him south. The goods he brought were handed over to Li Duojin and Liu Xiansheng, and they were all his own anyway.

More than ten days later, Sha Weng returned with a full load, and Bian Yu heard that Zhang Yue was going back to Tokyo, and Cheng Yachan was going back with him, and left her to go with him, so he agreed. As for the second brother Zhang Cheng, he was handed over to Han Sheng first.

Soon, Feng Qianhou also returned, bringing back more than 100 cows and a few yaks, but the breeding cattle are only suitable for the plateau and snow mountains, and it is still unknown whether they can be raised.

The war horses were brought back with three hundred, and Quan Daojin was in Lingzhou, and they occupied them first and gave themselves a command and equipment. There were also 1,500 oxen, mules, and donkeys, and there were plenty of alfalfa grass samples and seeds, as well as a large stack of military maps. Zhang Quanxu's goods were sold out, but the stallion was not found, so he stayed in Lingzhou to continue looking.

Of the three hundred war horses, Zhang Yue left one hundred for his own soldiers, the rest of the equipment for the officers, and another fifty for Suo Wanjin, which made the old guy very happy. There were no more than 800 war horses, and there were three battalions of cavalry under his command, but the burden of grain and grass was also huge.

Another ten days passed, and Tokyo finally replied, as well as a handwritten reply from Guo Rong, the king of Jin, with only twelve words: Do a good deed! Hurry back to Tokyo and plan to use the troops!

Zhang Yue smiled when he saw it, it is estimated that Guo Rong is also under huge pressure for this matter, and the first four words look annoyed and angry, but in the next four words, it seems that whether to send troops or not, the DPRK and China have not yet decided.

Feng Qianhou read the reply of the court, and then read the reply of the king of Jin, but smiled firmly: "The king of Jin said so, sending troops is a sure thing. Shuofang Feng Jiye has always been at odds with the Qiang people, and he is in the same situation as Xia Sui and Li Yiyin, and he is also a strong advocate of sending troops, and he is not willing to investigate this matter at all. But his original intention may be to recover Huizhou as already owned. But in fact, this batch of goods, I estimate that it is really possible that it was made by the Qingtang Party Xiang Qiang, and Li Yiyin is also at a loss, he has to make a choice. ”

"Li Yiyin may let the Yeci clan retreat, the main opponent is the Qingtang Qiang people, I don't know how big the scale of this battle will be, it's really unpredictable!" Zhang Yue smiled, looking eager to try.

Feng Qianhou blinked his triangular eyes, twisted his beard and said with a smile: "Qingtang Qiang is nothing more than that, I am afraid that we will send troops, and he will hand over the goods again, and the princes of the court and the central government will think of calming things down, and this battle will not have to be fought." Therefore, you must have the determination to win, not protracted, and strengthen the will of His Royal Highness the King of Jin, if you win, it will only be good for him, and he will be happy. ”

"I understand! Set off early tomorrow morning, you can go back too, your lady is about to fall in love! Zhang Yue laughed, as a veteran, he was naturally happy when he heard the war.