"Mighty and unyielding, he is really a hero!" In the room alone, Zhou Ping was not afraid to be heard, and couldn't help but sigh: "It's just that such a hero has to move to a foreign land to avoid its edge, how strong should the Jurchens be at this time!" Thinking of this, Zhou Ping couldn't help but sigh to himself.

At this moment, the voice of the entourage came from outside: "General, Li Cheng is back!" ”

"Oh!" Zhou Ping turned around in surprise: "Let him come in!" ”

A few minutes later, Li Cheng entered the house, his dusty face was washed away by sweat, revealing the cracked cuts on his face that had been blown by the wind, and it was obvious that he had suffered a lot along the way. Li Cheng sang a fat song to Zhou Ping: "The last general has seen the general!" ”

"I've suffered a lot, sit down and talk!" Zhou Ping smiled and pointed to an empty chair on the side and asked, "Did the journey go smoothly?" ”

"General, please let the last general tell me!" Li Cheng took a breath and sat down on the chair: "Brother She'er and I went all the way to the west, only to see that the villages along the way were either deserted and populated, or there were deep ditches and thick bases, and they were heavily guarded. Far away, some people shouted loudly to drive the horses away, and several times saw that we were few people and came to grab the horses, and if we had not had a spare horse and a good bow, I was afraid that they would have been snatched away. We walked northwest along the Sanggan River, and after four or five days to the boundary of Yingzhou, we could no longer go forward, I heard that the front was full of defeated soldiers and horse bandits of the Liao army, and we encountered it and were coerced into it, and we did not hear about the 100,000 iron horsemen of Emperor Tianzuo, so we had to go back. ”

"That's fine!" Although it did not achieve all its goals, it finally confirmed the falsity of the news that Emperor Tianzuo's 100,000 iron cavalry was attacking. Zhou Ping was very happy, he looked at the absence behind Li Cheng, and asked, "What about She'er, why didn't you come back with you?" ”

"I'm about to tell the general!" Li Cheng took a sip of water and continued: "On the way back, I met a dirt village, and at that time we had almost eaten dry food, so we had to go to the village to buy it. But he didn't want the leader of the village to be an old acquaintance with the She'er brothers, and after a few conversations between the two sides, the She'er brothers should stay. And let me tell the general: We didn't meet that Guan Yu. But it's the same with more local tyrants, everything is fine with him over there, please rest assured that the lord will be there. ”

Zhou Ping inquired in detail a few more words, and only then did he understand that the leader of the village was the old department of Luo She'er's father, Luo Qinghan, when he was resenting the army. When the resentful army rebelled, it was suppressed by Xiao Gan's army. Guo Yaoshi took advantage of the unfavorable situation to kill Luo Qinghan and surrender the Liao army. The gang fled, gathered a group of men along the way, occupied the stockade, and laid down twenty or thirty villages on all sides. It's barely a small local tyrant. After Luo She'er saw the enemy who killed his father, he knew in his heart that with Guo Yaoshi's current strength, it would be delusional if he wanted to take revenge on Zhou Ping. So he stayed in the stockade, trying to get in touch with the hole cards that he thought he was avenging.

"Sure enough, in the troubled times when murder is like grass and no sound, half of the children are thinking about supporting the army and respecting themselves!" Zhou Ping smiled bitterly when he heard this, obviously Luo She'er was just following his example, pulling the banner of the Great Song Dynasty as a tiger skin, and enveloping his father's old department, the only difference was that he planned to take revenge on Guo Yaoshi, while he wanted to solve the Yanyun problem as soon as possible, and the two also had something in common.

"Li Cheng, how many people did you say there were in that village? How many horses? How about armor? Do you think She'er's method works? ”

"Tell the general, there are about four or five leaders in the village, and there are more than 2,000 people in the nearby Ding Zhuang, and there are not many people who can really fight, about one or two hundred. There were only more than thirty war horses, twenty or thirty sets of armor, only some swords and spears in the staff, few bows and crossbows, and not many arrows. Speaking of this, Li Cheng paused slightly: "Actually, I don't think it's difficult for Yingzhou to get people together, horse thieves and deserters from the clouds and the states outside the mountains are everywhere, and there are also croppers who can't get by, everywhere, as long as you don't make too much trouble, the officials in the state don't care, and some can also give a title of recruiting envoys and guarding envoys, but most of them are spinning and disappearing, and they can't become any climate!" ”

"Hmm!" When Zhou Ping heard this, his eyes lit up and he asked, "Then you mean that She'er's trick can be successful?" ”

"Yes and no!" Li Cheng said with a smile: "To tell the truth, I can also see that many of them are soldiers who have fought for several years, and they have seen a lot of life and death. ”

"What do you mean?"

"Food, clothing, brass, silver, armor!" Li Cheng said with a smile: "Especially the armor, what is most lacking is this, many deserters have a horse when they run out, and the others are all lost, Yingzhou is close to Saiwai, and there is not a shortage of horses." Food, clothing, and money, as long as there are two or three hundred cavalry that can fight, and a few stockades are broken. And then there is salt, there is a war now, and the trade routes have long been cut off, and even if there is, the price is scary. The village I went to already eat is all light food, and the little salt on our body can be exchanged for a flowery little lady! ”

"Armor, and salt!" Zhou Ping nodded, he knew in his heart that although Yanjing seemed to be calm at the moment, it was actually an undercurrent, once Yeluchun died, or Song and Liao were launched, all forces would jump on the stage and sing their own operas. As the saying goes: "Literature must be armed", and if you want to insert a foot in Yanjing City, you must have an armed force loyal to you on hand. It is said that if he returns to Tong Guan's side, with his past merits and understanding of it, it is not a problem to get some armor and salt, but the question is how to transport it to Yingzhou? The border between Song and Liao and Baigou is now full of war clouds, and two or three people are just fine, and a caravan of dozens or even hundreds of livestock vehicles will definitely not be able to pass, so how can this be good?

"General!" Li Cheng's voice interrupted Zhou Ping's thoughts: "When I entered the city just now, I saw a lot of young people entering the city, it seems that they are not serious people, I heard that they were all recruited by Li Shaofu. ”

"Li Shaofu? Which one is Li Shaofu? Zhou Ping asked subconsciously.

"I heard that it is the son of Li Xianggong, it seems to be called Li Zheng!" Speaking of this, Li Cheng's face suddenly showed a strange smile: "The people in the wine shop next to the door said that Li Shaofu and the queen still have one leg, I heard that the queen was born with a natural posture and national color, then Li Shaofu is really blessed!" ”

"Hugh is nonsense!" Zhou Ping shouted loudly, with this period of time on the official system of the Liao State and the political situation in Yanjing, he has roughly figured out that the Li Shaofu that Li Cheng said should be the son of Li Chuwen, this Shaofu Shaofu was originally a Han official, probably in charge of handicraft manufacturing and coinage, and has become a native official in the Liao State, not necessarily the actual dispatch. Li Chuwen's son actually holds the power of the Suwei court, and it is a position that may not be too high, but it is very important.

"What do you mean when you say you're not a serious person?" Zhou Ping thought for a while and suddenly asked.

"This-" Li Cheng thought about the wording for a while, and replied: "The last general used to be an archer in the township, and it was those floating people, such as those who sold smuggled salt and killed ploughing cattle—"

"Needless to say, I see!" Zhou Ping stopped Li Cheng's answer: "You have worked hard all the way, go down to eat and rest first!" ”

"Whoa!" Li Cheng responded and retreated.

"Huh!" When Li Cheng withdrew from the house, Zhou Ping suddenly laughed in a low voice: "Li Chuwen, Li Chuwen, you pretended to be harmless to humans and animals in front of me, and I didn't expect to keep a hand in secret!" Okay, okay, I'm not afraid that you have too many eyes, I'm afraid that you are too honest! ”

"Someone!" Zhou Ping suddenly said loudly: "Change my clothes for me, I want to go out!" ”

More than half an hour later, the Liu Ji leather goods store outside the west gate of the Pure Dirt Temple.

It was almost dinner time, and the streets were already depressed and there were no pedestrians. The guys in the shop yawned lazily and waited for the door panel to close. At this time, two guests came in from the outside, the one led by him was tall and magnificent, and the one behind him was burly, with a saber in his hand, and looked around vigilantly, obviously a guard. When the shopkeeper saw it, he hurriedly stepped forward, sang a fat song, and said with a smile: "Two guest officers, what kind of goods do you want to buy when you come to the shop?" ”

Zhou Ping was satisfied to see that there were no other customers in the store except them, he coughed lowly, and said in a low voice: "A certain family has something important to meet with Li Menxia!" ”

The shopkeeper's face changed slightly, and he was about to open his mouth to test it, Zhou Ping smiled slightly, took out a jade pendant from his arms, put it in the other party's hand, and said: "This official is the deputy envoy of the Great Song Mission, and this is what Li Men personally told a certain family!" ”

The shopkeeper looked at the jade pendant, only to see that it was very exquisitely made, and knew that it was not an ordinary utensil, so he hurriedly put it in his arms and said in a low voice: "Your noble, please go to the inner room for a while!" After that, he led Zhou Ping and the two into the back room, told his subordinates a few words, and turned around and walked to the backyard.

About half an hour later, the shopkeeper came to Zhou Ping, looked a lot respectful, and said respectfully: "My lord is invited, and I also invite the two to come with the villain!" ”

Zhou Ping nodded, got up and followed the shopkeeper to the backyard, and entered the firewood room, where the shopkeeper pushed away a few bundles of dry firewood, knelt on the ground and uncovered a wooden cover, revealing a black hole inside. He turned his head and smiled at Zhou Ping: "The two nobles come with the villain!" Then he jumped out of the hole. Zhou Ping didn't say much, jumped down, and Li Cheng also jumped off without mentioning it.

Zhou Ping in the cave saw the shopkeeper standing in front, with an extra oil lamp in his hand at some point, and was waiting for him with a smile. He followed the shopkeeper in the tunnel for a while, and he didn't feel depressed, obviously this tunnel has special ventilation facilities, and couldn't help sighing: "I didn't expect that there is such a tunnel under Yanjing!" (To be continued......)