Hey, isn't it for the sake of Lianjin to fight Liao? Aren't you saying that the situation has changed dramatically in the middle of the court? The demotion of the officials who disobeyed these two people, the demotion of the officials, and the demotion of the officials, is already a different scene."

"The situation has changed?" Han Xiaoxuan was slightly stunned, stretched out his hand to hold the other party's arm and walked to the chair: "What has changed, Brother Hu, please elaborate." ”

The black-faced man didn't answer, just stared at Zhou Ping with his eyes, Han Xiaoxuan knew that the other party was going to say something next, and he didn't want outsiders to hear it, so he instructed Zhou Ping: "You stay at the door, don't let strangers get close!" ”

"Whoa!" Zhou Ping was helpless, answered, put the brazier back in its place, and walked outside the door to continue eavesdropping.

When the two of them came out of the house, Han Xiaoxuan pointed to his scholar and said, "This is what I raised in my family, Brother Hu said it was okay!" ”

"Do you know that the will of the DPRK and the Central Committee to fight against Liao has been decided!"

"What? So fast? Han Xiaoxuan's face changed slightly: "I heard it before I left, but how could it be so fast?" Didn't Zheng Dazai and Deng Shumi both speak out against it? ”

"So what? The Taishi and the concubine are both trying their best to agitate, who can stop the two of them? At this moment, a mixture of hatred and envy appeared on the face of the black-faced man, as if the two nouns had some kind of magic.

"Besides, the envoys from Dengzhou to Liaodong have returned, and they have also brought a few Jin envoys to offer tribute, indicating the intention of joining forces. The official family is a surname of great joy, and when he sees that the great cause of his ancestors for more than 100 years is about to be accomplished, where can he still listen to the words of the contrary ear! At this, the black-faced man sighed, his face full of frustration.

"I see!" Han Xiaoxuan nodded slightly, thinking in his heart that if this was really the case, the matter of Lianjin's attack on Liao had already been decided, and it would be difficult to say about his own mission to Liao. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel a little troubled in his heart, it turned out that this Han Xiaoxuan was a party of Dazai Zheng in the middle of the court, and he was also against the joint army to attack Liao, and a very important reason why he, a living houser, wanted to participate in this mission was to find ammunition for the DPRK and China to oppose the attack on Liao, but he never expected that after he recalled that after a period of time, the situation in the DPRK and China would change greatly.

"Brother Wende, don't worry, because of this matter, my husband has belittled many people in the court, and it is said that you have avoided a disaster when you return to your hometown!"

"Brother Hu, don't comfort me!" Han Xiaoxuan smiled bitterly and said, "I don't know my husband's means yet, 'if you are not my fellow Daoist, you are a mortal enemy'." I am Zheng Dazai's person, and everyone knows it, so how can he just give up because I am not in the court? ”

When the man surnamed Hu heard this, he couldn't help but shudder when he remembered Cai Jingping's ruthlessness, I am afraid that being relegated to Qinzhou as Sima is just the beginning, maybe he just arrived there to 'chase down the words since he was born', 'send a certain state and county to manage the system' and other blows will follow! ’

Zhou Ping listened to the two people in the room talking about the envoys sent by the Great Song Dynasty to Nuzhi, and he couldn't help but think of the good monk who said goodbye to him a few months ago and went to Nuzhi, and he also took Dengzhou. I wonder if this heroic monk who always thinks of the world's surnames is okay now? Where is it now? I don't know if this heroic monk will be able to survive the coming stormy seas.

Two months ago

Jingdong East Road, Dengzhou. Dengzhou faces the sea on three sides, only the southwest side is connected with Laizhou, and the opposite side is located in the southernmost tip of the Liaodong Peninsula Lushun, which is the starting point of the sea route from Shandong to Liaozuo since ancient times, due to history

The overland route from Hebei to Liaodong had to pass through a narrow corridor between the remnants of the Yanshan Mountains and the Bohai Sea, and there were many swamps, which was very difficult. Therefore, in ancient times, when the Central Plains Dynasty sent troops to Liaodong and Korea, they often chose to go to sea from Dengzhou, such as Tang Gaozong's expedition to Goryeo, Baekje, and Bohai, all of which were from Dengzhou. Since the middle of the Tang Dynasty, the western Liaoning region and even the northern part of the North China Plain were gradually controlled by the Liao State established by the Khitans, and the land road from the Central Plains to the eastern Liaodong region was cut off, so the Jurchens, who were mainly distributed in today's Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang and other places, traded with the Central Plains through this sea route, the most important of which was to sell horses.

Zhishan got out of the cart, he took a deep breath of the air with the smell of sea, and stretched his back muscles that were a little sore in the narrow carriage.

"Master, that's Dengzhou Mansion over there!" The coachman pointed to the city tower not far away.

"Thank you for your advice!" Zhishan smiled and saluted the coachman, took out eighty copper coins from his arms and handed them over, and said with a smile: "These are fares, please accept them!" ”

"Oops, how can it be used so much!" The coachman was about to excuse himself, but he was pushed back by Zhishan and said with a smile: "There are a lot of troubles on the way, and this is just a little bit of the poor monk's heart." I'm going to take a boat to go by sea next, and I ask my brother for guidance on how to take the boat! ”

Zhishan has been active in the northwest for most of his life, but he has never been to Dengzhou, and he knows that if these coachmen know the dock business best, as long as they give a little money, they can save a lot of trouble.

"Then the master is the right person!" The coachman smiled and said: "In addition to the sailors on the sea, there are really not many people in Dengzhou who understand this aspect better than my Wuer, I don't know where the master is going to go by sea?" ”

"Liaodong!"

"Huh? What did the master do in Liaodong? The coachman's face changed greatly: "There is a war over there, the female straight and the Liao soldiers have been fighting for several years, the soldiers are in chaos, in previous years, there were still some merchant ships selling horses, mink, ginseng, and Dongzhu, and the business travel has long been cut off in these years of war." ”

"That's it!" The driver's answer disappointed Zhishan a little, did he want to go by land instead? The coachman saw that Zhishan's face was unhappy, and changed his words and persuaded: "Master, in fact, this sea route is not completely cut off, and occasionally there are a few bold boatmen who take this road to sell ginseng and mink by sea, after all, since the war in Liaodong, the price of these things has increased several times. If you come across a boat that you can take with them, it's not cheap! ”

Zhishan heard that what Wu Er said was also right, since he had run this trip, he at least had to go over and have a look, maybe he ran into it? Thinking of this, he sang a fat song to the coachman, and walked in the direction of the other man's finger.

When Zhishan arrived at the dock, he asked around, but the boat boss shook his head when he heard that he was going to Liaodong. It took a whole morning, and there was no eyebrows, Zhishan couldn't help but feel a little frustrated, and was about to find a place to fill his stomach in the afternoon, and then look for the ship to cross the sea, when someone suddenly slapped him on the shoulder, and someone behind him shouted: "What a monk, I met you here!" ”

Zhishan looked back and saw a burly man with a square face, gray hair and beard standing in front of him, and a pair of sturdy legs that were slightly compassing, which was the sequelae left by perennial horseback riding. The wind and sand in Shuobei polished his skin into a special bronz, and the wrinkles were like the ravines on the Loess Plateau in the northwest, which looked strong and severe. But at this time, this face is full of smiles, and the wrinkles are stretched, full of joy to meet a best friend.

"It turned out to be Ma Dujian!" Zhishan hurriedly suited his luggage, and it turned out that this person was his old acquaintance Ma Zheng when he was in the northwest. When the Song army opened up the Qing Tang Dynasty, Zhishan once served as a lobbyist to persuade the chiefs of the Qiang people along the way, and Ma Zheng was a fellow escort officer, and the two met on the journey and became friends, but this was already seven or eight years ago, but how could they meet here again? Zhishan was about to ask, but Ma Zheng patted him on the shoulder and said with a smile: "I haven't seen you for seven or eight years, and I have to drink a lot when I meet you today." He turned back to the young man behind him who looked like him, but was only twenty-three or four, and said, "Kuo'er, this is the best Zen master I often mention in front of you, and you still don't want to pay respects?" ”

"Little nephew to meet the Zen master!" The young men bowed down and preached.

"Virtuous nephew, please get up!" Zhishan hurriedly stretched out his hand to help the young man, looked him up and down, and smiled at Ma Zheng: "Sure enough, he is a talent, Brother Ma has such a good child, so I don't envy it!" ”

Ma Zheng couldn't close his mouth with a smile, obviously very fond of his son, but he said: "The child is very nonsense, the Zen master should not praise him!" ”

"Deserved, deserved!" Zhishan looked at the young man's rough calloused palms and well-proportioned and powerful limbs with an expert gaze, as well as the face that had been polished bronze by the wind and sand like his father, and especially the eyes, which were full of fearlessness and calmness peculiar to a soldier. It is clear that only a few of those who have experienced real danger, who know what danger is, and who are so comfortable with it all, will have such a gaze. Such people are rare even in the Western army, but such people are the backbone of the army, maybe they are not necessarily in the position of commander, but when it comes to critical times, the soldiers instinctively believe in them, obey them, and support them.

The three of them entered a wine shop, sat down at the table, and the child served the wine and food, after two glasses were in their stomachs. Ma Zheng said with a smile: "I didn't expect to meet a Zen master here, dare to ask, where are you going this time?" ”

Zhishan did not hide it, and said: "I came to Dengzhou this time to find a ship to go to Liaodong by sea, but I don't want to have a boatman willing to take a risk because of the fierce war there." ”

"Liaodong?" Ma Zheng's face became strange, he put down the chopsticks in his hand, and asked, "What are you going to do in Liaodong?" ”

"Without him, just investigate the situation of the woman!" Zhishan replied, and then he told Ma Zheng what he had heard and his worries when he went to Goryeo before, he believed that the old acquaintance in front of him would understand his worries and the necessity of this trip, he was different from those "soldiers" on the front line in Bianjing or Hebei, he was born and began to learn to pull the reins on horseback when he was just able to walk, and learned to draw a bow when he could hold chopsticks, and spent his whole life in the fight with the Tangut and Qingqiang people, and had an instinctive intuition for danger and enemies, People like this will not understand the purpose of their trip to Liaodong.

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