On the grassland in early summer, the pasture grass has already grown half a person high, the whole grassland is green, a lot of red and yellow flowers are spread on this green grassland, making this grassland become a delicate blanket dotted with countless flowers, this is also the best season for grazing, the rich grassland is full of grazing herdsmen driving the sheep from the grassland.

"Driving~driving~" At this time, a large Song cavalry of about 3,000 people suddenly rushed from the northern sky, everywhere they went, all the herdsmen bowed their heads humbly, even if they were dissatisfied with the Great Song Dynasty grassland people, they did not dare to have any dissatisfaction at this time, because the Great Song Dynasty had occupied this grassland, not only the Western Liao was beaten away, but also during this time also destroyed many large tribes that dared to resist, and almost no one dared to resist the rest of the people, and the Great Song Dynasty has become the most powerful overlord on the grassland.

It was Hu Yanqing who led this cavalry, after he was transferred to the old general Guhe, he led the cavalry to fight on the grassland, and finally quelled the rebellion on the grassland, but it was easy to lay down this grassland, and it was not easy to rule this grassland for a long time, fortunately, these things were not what he needed to worry about, and the court had begun to arrange them, and now the reason why he stayed in the grassland and did not go back was to cooperate with the actions of the imperial court to rule the grassland.

Huyanqing their cavalry has been traveling south for dozens of miles, here is already the edge of the southern part of the grassland, and further south is the territory of the former Western Xia, of course, it has been completely ruled by the Great Song Dynasty, such as Huyanqing They went all the way to the south, and soon arrived at a walled city built here by the Great Song Dynasty, which is called Northern Xinjiang City, which was the first gateway for the Great Song Dynasty to defend the grassland people in the past, but now it has become an important hub for the Great Song Dynasty to control the grassland.

As soon as he arrived at the city gate, Hu Yanqing saw a familiar figure standing there in front of the city gate, which made him stunned at first. Then he shouted in ecstasy: "Zong Wu, why are you here? ”

"Hehe, I have already received the news that you are coming to Northern Xinjiang City, so I waited in front of the city gate early, and our brothers should have a few drinks!" Zhao Zongwu in front of the door also laughed loudly at the moment. He is Hu Yanqing's brother in the same dormitory when he was in the military academy, and when he attacked the sixteen states of Yanyun in Liao, he also fought with Hu Yanqing, but he was not good at command on the battlefield, but good at logistics scheduling, so he rarely appeared on the battlefield.

Hearing Zhao Zongwu's words, Hu Yanqing also laughed again, and then stepped forward and hugged the other party fiercely, and then they entered the city together in the northern Xinjiang city is a military fortress. In addition to the army, there are no ordinary residents in the city, but now this northern Xinjiang city has built a lot of simple camps, large and small, inhabited by some dark-skinned natives, most of whom are not tall, and their eyes are full of awe when they look at the Great Song Dynasty soldiers.

"Zongwu, are these the natives of Nanyang who are going to be brought to the grassland to build a railway?" Hu Yanqing looked at the surrounding natives and asked very casually. The reason why he rushed to Beijiang City this time was to bring these Nanyang natives to the grassland. Then there were special people who urged these natives to build railways, and I heard that the imperial court was preparing to build several railways and cement roads on the grassland, as long as there were roads, then the people on the grassland would no longer be able to turn up any big storms.

"Yes, these Nanyang natives are only the first batch, and there will be a second and third batch in the future." Zhao Zongwu said very coldly. He worked in the Privy Council, and this time he was in charge of transporting the natives who built the roads to the grasslands.

"So much, you don't plan to capture all the natives of Nanyang to work as coolies on the grassland, do you?" Hu Yanqing couldn't help but be surprised when he heard this.

"Don't say it so ugly, we have paid, and these natives are willing to come to work in the grassland. In this way, they can have the money to support their families, and some young natives work on the grassland for a few years, and the money they have saved is enough for them to go back and build a house and marry a wife. When Zhao Zongwu heard this, he glanced at Yanqing and said.

"Bah, you black-hearted devils are so kind? I bet these natives must have been squeezed out of Nanyang and forced to come here to work as coolies, and their daily wages are very pitiful, right? Hu Yanqing also smiled at this time and said, he had also stayed in Nanyang a few years ago, so he naturally knew some of the methods used by the imperial court to deal with the natives of Nanyang.

"Hehe, I forgot that your kid was a native in Nanyang for a while, and he must know the situation over there very well, speaking of which, he can't blame others, if you want to blame these native people for being stupid and lazy, the number of Song people in Nanyang has been increasing in recent years, compared to these native people, our Song people are smart and hardworking, and naturally occupy most of the wealth, as a result, these native people can only follow us here to do coolies in order to have enough to eat, although the salary is not high, but the consumption on the Nanyang side is also low, so it is not bad." Zhao Zongwu said with a smile at this time, in order to recruit these natives, he also deliberately went to Nanyang, and he was very familiar with the situation in Nanyang.

When Hu Yanqing heard this, he also knew that what Zhao Zongwu said was the truth, not to mention that he was also a Song person, so naturally he would not feel sympathy for these Nanyang natives, and even when he was in Nanyang, he had seen too many ugly faces of these Nanyang natives, and he was lazy and stupid, but he was also jealous of the Song people, and there were often some small rebellions in Nanyang, which was caused by the jealousy of these natives of the Song people, and he didn't know how many times he had quelled the rebellion of the natives when he was in Nanyang, and the natives who died in his hands were not 10,000 but 8,000.

After Yang Zongwu took Hu Yanqing's army into the northern Xinjiang city, he first helped the cavalry behind Hu Yanqing arrange a place to live, and then the two came to Yang Zongwu's residence to catch up.

Yang Zongwu was originally in charge of logistics, so he quickly prepared a table of good wine and food, and even got a jar of good wine that was not allowed in the army, which made Hu Yanqing's eyes light up, when he stayed in the navy before, because of the particularity of the navy, alcohol was allowed in the navy, and even wine was one of the standard equipment in the navy, but since he went ashore and became the army, alcohol has become taboo, and he has not drunk for nearly a year.

Seeing Hu Yanqing's eyes shining at the wine jar, Yang Zongwu also laughed and said: "I know that you, a drunkard, will like it, this is a good wine hidden by the school superintendent, last time my father was eighty years old, he took out eight altars as a gift, but at the birthday banquet, seven altars were drunk on the spot, and the last remaining altar was hidden by my father very tightly, saying that he would take it out and taste it on his next birthday, but it was stolen by me, in order to give your brother you a wind!" ”

"The Governor's wine!" Hu Yanqing couldn't help but show a happy expression when he heard this, he knew that when the distilled liquor first came out, Zhao Yan had stored a batch of good liquor, and now it has been more than 20 years, and this batch of liquor is getting less and less, and it is not easy to see it, Hu Yanqing remembered that the last time he drank this kind of wine, it was after recovering the sixteen states of Yanyun, Zhao Yan took out some to celebrate them.

Hu Yanqing is also a good wine person, and immediately reached out to smash the mud seal on the wine jar, and removed the cover on it, as a result, a mellow aroma of wine immediately emanated, making people feel intoxicated, Hu Yanqing also took a long breath at this time, and his face also showed an intoxicated expression.

Zhao Zongwu picked up the wine jar at the moment, and then poured a bowl for Hu Yanqing and himself, the two didn't say anything, they just took a sip and dried it, and then Hu Yanqing showed a look of enjoyment and shouted: "Good wine, it is really a good wine of the school governor, and the taste is more mellow than a few years ago!" ”

Seeing Hu Yanqing's happy appearance, Zhao Zongwu also laughed, and then started chatting with Hu Yanqing, they haven't seen each other for so many years, so naturally they have a lot to say, at the beginning they didn't talk about military affairs, but talked about their own lives, as well as some of the children's situations, after all, they are all middle-aged, and their children are about to graduate from military schools or Gewu Academy, which also breaks their hearts as parents.

However, after chatting about the above, Zhao Zongwu suddenly changed the topic, hesitated for a moment before he spoke: "Brother Huyan, before I came to the grassland this time, I was summoned by the school governor, and he wanted me to ask for your opinion for him!" ”

"The Governor has something to ask me? What's up? Hu Yanqing couldn't help but ask in surprise when he heard this, he didn't expect Zhao Zongwu to see that he still had Zhao Yan's entrustment.

"This matter is a long story, you also know that Zhao Jia, the eldest son of the school governor, has a concubine who is the princess of the Holy Roman Empire in Europe, this Holy Roman Empire is the most powerful country in Europe, and the throne should have been this princess, but she was forced to escape from Europe by her two elder brothers......"

Zhao Zongwu first told Zhao Jia and Agnes about it, and then talked about the civil strife in the Holy Roman Empire, which was a good opportunity to control the empire, and the imperial court was also ready to send a fleet to help Agnes regain the throne, but in this fleet, Zhao Jia could barely command the navy, but after arriving in Europe, there would definitely be a land war, so he needed an experienced army general to assist him.

For this candidate to assist Zhao Jia, the imperial court has also considered it in many ways, this person must not only be capable, but also loyal to the Great Song Dynasty, so as to reassure the imperial court, and in the end, Zhao Yan After discussion, they felt that Hu Yanqing was the most suitable candidate, but if he went to Europe, he would definitely have to stay for several years and not be able to come back, so this matter also depends on Hu Yanqing's own attitude, and Zhao Yan also asked Zhao Zongwu to ask Hu Yanqing's attitude because of this consideration. (To be continued.) )