Chapter 498 Phoenix Village

Daci Mountain was formerly known as Baohua Mountain, located in the Fuquan Mountains outside Lin'an City, towering into the clouds, stretching for dozens of miles, there is Xiashui Ao in the middle, later because the Southern Song Dynasty Prime Minister Shi Miyuan buried his mother here, so it was renamed "Daci Mountain". This Daci Mountain is quite peculiar, the scenery of its eastern foot is beautiful, the mountains are stacked on top of each other, the forest is deep and the rocks are secluded, the pine camphor covers the shade, the surrounding mountains are surrounded, there is a small stream in the middle, the mountains and rivers reflect each other, it is like a fairyland, it is very feng shui aura, and its southwest is overgrown with weeds, the rocks stand in a forest, the cold air is pressing all day long, even on the day when the sun shines, it also makes people feel eerie and terrifying.

A senior monk of Asoka Temple once said that the aura of the Fuquan Mountains is concentrated at the eastern foot of Baohua Mountain, and the rest of the feng shui is barren, and there will be no improvement in three hundred years.

In his later years, Shi Miyuan believed in the theory of feng shui religion, and successively built temples such as Baohua Temple, Wukong Temple, and Miaozhi Temple in Daci Mountain, and built Taoist temples such as Taiqing Palace, Zhende Temple, and Wuzhen Temple, as a summer resort for the royal family. In short, the eastern foothills of Daci Mountain flourished during Shi Miyuan's reign. At the southern foot of Daci Mountain, there is only one inconspicuous dilapidated temple - Guhan Temple.

One hundred and forty years ago, the Fangla uprising occurred in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui, and at its peak, it once occupied the center of the two Zhejiang roads, Lin'an. After being suppressed by the government, the descendants of the Fang family who escaped by luck hid in the name of the Heavenly Dao League, until the fall of the Northern Song Dynasty and the southern crossing of Gaozong, which gradually came to the fore, but it only existed as a martial arts gang.

Guhan Temple is a secret stronghold under the Heavenly Dao Alliance, but this stronghold located outside Lin'an City is set up by the fourth generation of the Great Elder of the Heavenly Dao Alliance, and it is only under the orders of the hereditary Great Elder's Wang family, and even the previous generation of the Alliance leader Fang Chenyi does not know.

That night, under the cover of night, six elders, including Yang Lian Zhenjia, Fang Chenqian, and Wang Shangyuan, quietly infiltrated the Guhan Temple and had a final discussion on the attack on the Gunpowder Prison.

At the next hour (3:15 a.m.), a raging fire suddenly broke out in Fenghuang Village, located five miles outside the north gate of Lin'an City.

The sky-high flames lit up the night sky, and the guards at the north gate, who were the first to discover the fire, immediately reported to Zhao Bao, the commander of the Nine Gates, who was in charge of the city's defense, and the prefect of Lin'an Prefecture. When Zhao Bao, who got the news, rushed to the north gate, he happened to see the hidden friend arguing with the soldiers guarding the door.

Fenghuang Village belongs to the jurisdiction of Lin'an Prefecture, and as the parent official of Lin'an City, he naturally wanted to send someone to extinguish the fire and rescue, but the soldiers guarding the city insisted on not opening the city gate, because there was a dispute between the two sides. During the war, there were strict regulations on the closing time of the gates of Lin'an City, except for the palace, only Zhao Bao, the commander of the nine gates, had the right to open the city gates during the closed period.

As soon as Qian Shuoyou saw Zhao Bao coming, he hurriedly said: "Please General Zhao order, Qian needs to send an official to Fenghuang Village to understand the situation in order to organize a rescue." ”

"Okay, open the door."

"General Xie Zhao." The subtext friend turned to the dozen or so officials behind him and said, "Hurry up and check the situation, this mansion is waiting here." ”

"Yes, sir."

After only a quarter of an hour, the ten servants hurried back to the north gate, and with them a common man.

"What's going on?" Zhao Bao and Qianyou glanced at each other and said.

It is about five miles from the north gate to Fenghuang Village, and no matter how fast these officials are, it will take at least three quarters of an hour to go back and forth.

Chen Yu, the head of the official capital, took a breath, pointed to the person beside him and said, "My lord, this is Zhou Guang, a villager from Phoenix Village, who is familiar with Xiao. Zhou Guang, you told Master Qian in detail about what happened in Phoenix Village. ”

Under the illumination of the lights of the city gate, the subtext friend saw that the villager named Zhou Guang had a pale face and was incoherent in his words, but fortunately, the subtext friend and Zhao Bao could still understand a rough idea.

About half an hour ago, Zhou Guang, who was asleep, was awakened by a shout, and looked out of the window, only to see countless masked black-clothed people rushing into the village from the east and west, and after entering, they lit fires everywhere. Zhou Guang was originally a border soldier, retired due to hand disability, his parents died, but he lived alone in the southernmost part of Phoenix Village, and he was quite bold on weekdays, and when he saw that the situation was wrong, he slipped out of the back door of his house and hid in an extremely hidden place. In the firelight, Zhou Guang saw the flags erected on the ground by these black-clothed people, and Zhou Guang, who had been on the battlefield, recognized at a glance that this was the battle flag of the Mongolian cowardly Xue army.

Hearing the last sentence Zhou Guang said, Zhao Bao was taken aback and said, "What? Cowardly Xue Jun? How many people are there? ”

Although Zhou Guang didn't know Zhao Bao, his many years of experience in the army made him see at a glance that the general who asked was a commander, which was the highest-level general of the Song Army that Zhou Guang had ever seen, so he hurriedly gave a military salute and said: "This general, the little one has been in the army for many years, has fought with the Mongolian army, and knows the banner of the cowardly Xue army, but those people are all dressed in black and have their faces covered, so they can't tell whether it is the real Mongolian cowardice." As for the number of people, there are about six or seven hundred. ”

Zhao Bao's heart sank, and without thinking, he said to one of his personal guards beside him: "Order the defenders of all city gates, take strict precautions, and the seventh army will assemble urgently." ”

Although the subtext friend has heard of the name of Mongolian cowardice, he is not a military general after all, so he is not as nervous as Zhao Bao: "General Zhao, do you want to notify the Military Affairs Yuan?" ”

"Well, Lord Qian, the matter of Phoenix Village will be handed over to Zhao, please go to the Military Affairs Institute and tell Lord Shi and Lord Fan of the military department about the situation."

"Okay, let's go."

A quarter of an hour later, the team was assembled, and Xiao Handao, the commander of the Second Seventh Army of the Lin'an Military Region, said: "General Zhao, the Seventh Army has been assembled. ”

"Okay, Xiao Han, you lead the 36th and 37th Battalions of the Seventh Army to guard the north gate, no one is allowed to enter or leave until the general returns, and the soldiers of the 38th, 39th, and 40th Battalions will go to Phoenix Village with the general."

"Yes, General."

"All the officers and men of the 38th, 39th, and 40th battalions, get on your horse."

With General Zhao Bao's order, 1,500 cavalry troops stepped on their horses and galloped north. The 38th, 39th, and 40th battalions of the Seventh Army were the only three-battalion cavalry units in the second compartment of the Lin'an Military Region.

The speed of the war horse was extremely fast, and there were official roads outside the north gate, and the roads were smooth, and it didn't take long for the soldiers to come to the entrance of Phoenix Village.

Zhao Bao took the lead, did not stop at all, and rushed directly into the village.

At this time, the fire in the village was much smaller, some of the villagers were treating the wounded, some were fighting the fire, and the man in black mentioned by Zhou Guang was nowhere to be seen.

"The thirty-eighth and thirty-ninth battalions, searching everywhere, and the forty battalions, helping the villagers to put out the fire." After Zhao Bao finished his order, someone found Li Zheng in the village.

In Fenghuang Village, Zhengye's surname is Zhou, and according to his seniority, he should be Zhou Guang's distant uncle. Zhou Lizheng gave a detailed account of the process of the fire, which was basically the same as what Zhou Guang said, the men in black set fire everywhere, set fire to the main buildings of the village, and then left Phoenix Village, leaving only a military flag still planted in the center of the village.

When Zhao Bao saw this cowardly Xue army banner, his first feeling was, "Are the Mongols demonstrating?" ”

"Zhou Lizheng, are there many injured villagers?"

"General Hui, there are not many, basically they are all burned by the fire, and those men in black did not kill anyone after setting fire to the village."

The 38th and 39th battalions quickly searched Fenghuang Village and its surroundings, and reported back: "General, there is not a single man in black, it seems that they have all been evacuated, should our army increase the search area?" ”

Zhao Bao still looked at the banner left by the cowardly Xue Jun, and said after a while: "Send more scouts, expand the search area, the forty battalions will stay in Fenghuang Village to assist the villagers in fighting the fire and rehousing the wounded, and the thirty-eighth and thirty-ninth battalions will immediately assemble in addition to the scouts and return to Lin'an." ”

The banner is the military flag of the Mongolian cowardly Xue, which is not bad at all, but the cowardly Xue army only set fire to it and did not kill people, which was beyond Zhao Bao's expectations, besides, if it was a cowardly Xue who came from thousands of miles away, it could not be as simple as just planting a flag.

"General Zhao is back, open the city gate quickly." Shi Yanzhi, the acting president of the Military Affairs Yuan, Fan Wenhuan, the secretary of the military department, and General Zhang Gui, another guard general of Lin'an City, rushed to the north gate as soon as possible and ordered the city gate to be opened.

After Zhao Bao finished talking about the situation in Phoenix Village, Shi Yanzhi said: "General Zhao, General Zhang, Master Fan, it is impossible to determine the identity of this group of black-clothed people from just one banner, today is dark, the purpose of the black-clothed people is unknown, Shi suggested that all city gates be ordered to take strict precautions, and report immediately if there is a situation." At this time, there is still an hour before dawn, and several of us are divided into patrols to inspect the major city gates, first of all, to ensure the safety of Lin'an City, and other matters will be reported to the Queen Mother at dawn before making a conclusion. Generals, what do you think? ”

Although Shi Yanzhi and Fan Wenhuan's military positions are far above Zhao Bao, Shi Yanzhi is not good at giving orders directly to the commander of Lin'an Jiumen appointed by the emperor, but tactfully expressed his opinion.

Fan Wenhuan also agreed: "Master Shi is reasonable, whether it is cowardly Xue Army or not, but it is impossible for a large number of Mongolian soldiers to cross the border of our dynasty, right now, when the battle between Song and Mongolia has entered a critical moment, our first task is to ensure that Lin'an City does not make mistakes, and the rest should be discussed later." ”

Zhao Bao thought for a while and said: "This fire is too sudden, and the whereabouts of this group of black-clothed people are unknown at present, and further north from Phoenix Village, there is a large mountain forest, which is not conducive to searching in the dark. Since the two adults are on the same page, the last general agrees as well. ”

Shi Yanzhi said "um" and said, "Please give an order from General Zhao." ”

"Since the man in black appeared at the north gate, then Zhao will patrol the area around the north gate, Lord Shi, you go to the east gate, Lord Fan, you go to the west gate, General Zhang, you go to the south gate. An hour later, they met at the palace gate. ”

The three of them said in unison, "Okay." ”

"General Zhang Gui, please wait."

"General Zhao, what else do you command?"