Zhao Kuangyin can ignore the tactical issues of the "Qingyuan" private soldiers, but some of the meanings conveyed by Wang Kunjun's words cannot but make Zhao Kuangyin think more. In Zhao Kuangyin's view, the Battle of Youyun in the Northern Expedition is almost equivalent to a national war, but a big showdown between you and me and related to the future national fortunes of Zhou and Liao. In the face of such a major action, it is said that a few states and counties in the eight states in front of the mountain have suffered from the flames, even if all the states and counties of the sixteen states of Youyun have been affected and affected, it is an acceptable loss compared to the results of the imperial court's recovery of the sixteen states of Youyun. However, the "Qingyuan" brothers are only a powerful local powerhouse, but they do not want to cause the people of individual prefectures and counties to be poisoned by war because of a military campaign they will win, and they really declare to the imperial court that they are only trying to drive away the Khitans and make it as simple as a peaceful life for themselves and the people of Youyun -- if they just want to live comfortably for themselves, want to have an official and a half-position in the court in the future to provide protection for their own property, and want to be a landlord and wealthy businessman who does not care about state affairs, There is no need for him to spend so much effort to do this kind of thing just to gain a good reputation for himself and make the gentry and people remember his good deeds when he has actually become the largest landlord and the richest wealthy businessman in the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun, and his shili can affect almost all the people and gentry in the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun. For the practice of the "Qingyuan" brothers, the only reasonable reason that Zhao Kuangyin can think of is that the other party is establishing his image as a "teacher of benevolence and righteousness", giving favors to the people of Youyun, and "selling people's hearts", and this is by no means what a group of local tyrants who just want to live a happy and enjoyable life should do - helping the township and setting up sheds and soup kitchens are the "good deeds" they should do.

As soon as he thought of this, Zhao Kuangyin, who had doubts about the motive of the "Qingyuan" private soldiers after learning about the true strength of the "Qingyuan" private soldiers, suddenly moved in his heart, and an uneasy emotion surged into his heart, and it became stronger and stronger. With this feeling, Zhao Kuangyin had no intention of continuing to talk with Wang Kunjun and others. After reluctantly agreeing for a while, he said goodbye to the other party on the grounds that it would not hinder Wang Kunjun and others from discussing military aircraft. Seeing that the Zhao brothers, who disturbed their brothers' discussion of their next move, took the initiative to leave and leave, Wang Kunjun and the others naturally couldn't ask for it. After the three brothers sent the Zhao brothers away, they returned to the house to continue the discussion just now.

After Zhao Kuangyin returned to his residence with his brother, he did not delay for a moment, and immediately took out a pen and paper to write a secret fold for Chai Rong. In this secret compromise, he not only recounted in detail the process and conversation between him and Wang Kunjun in Yuguan, the course of the battle between the "Qingyuan" private soldiers and the Khitan army, and the current deployment of the "Qingyuan" private soldiers, but also his own judgment -- the reason why the "Qingyuan" brothers raised troops this time was definitely not because of the reasons that Xu Shao'an explained to the imperial court, and it was very likely that they had a plan, and the plan was not small.

After writing the secret fold, Zhao Kuangyin put it into a black lacquered wooden box and carefully sealed it. Then he called his brother and instructed him to leave for Youzhou immediately, and hand over the wooden box to the current prince in person.

Zhao Kuangyi knew early on that his brother did not come to Yuguan just to reward the "Qingyuan" brothers and their private soldiers, but to follow the secret order of the official family and come to inquire about the truth of the "Qingyuan" brothers. Therefore, when he saw his brother doing this, he couldn't help but feel a little nervous, and while taking the wooden box, he asked with a little hesitation: "The eldest brother is so anxious, could it be that what Wang Kunjun and his brother have done is wrong?" Could it be that they relied on their strong soldiers and sharp firearms, and planned to make a move against the imperial army? ”

Zhao Kuangyin shook his head when he heard this, and said: "The 'Qingyuan' brothers have always been cautious in their work, so naturally it is impossible to easily reveal their true intentions. However, after observing all the way from Baoxingzhuang to Yuguan, he felt that his plan was not small, and it was by no means as simple as Xu Shaoan said in front of the officials. Although the Youyun War is not over now, with the strong performance of the 'Qingyuan' private soldiers before, it is only a matter of time before it wins the victory of Zuihou in this big battle. Once he defeated the Khitans and drove the other party out of the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun, I am afraid that there will be a showdown with the imperial court and the official family. ”…,

"What does the eldest brother mean is that the 'Qingyuan' brothers want to be enemies of the imperial court and establish themselves as kings in the Sixteen Prefectures of Youyun?" Zhao Kuangyi asked with some disbelieving.

Zhao Kuangyin nodded this time and said: "This is not impossible, after all, since the private soldiers of 'Qingyuan' can easily wipe out more than 100,000 or 200,000 Khitan elite soldiers, then it will not be difficult to defeat the 80,000 soldiers and horses of the imperial court." To put it mildly, judging from the current strength of the 'Qingyuan' brothers, it is said that they have divided the sixteen states of Youyun and established themselves as kings, and given time, it is not impossible for them to compete for the world.

However, Brother Wei thought that things should not get to that point. Although the 'Qingyuan' brothers are strong, they have always respected the imperial court and revered the officials. If they had the intention to be enemies of the imperial court, after the Battle of Baoxingzhuang, they would not have let Xu Shaoan go to the imperial court camp in person and go to the official family to ask for guilt in person. And afterwards, they not only supplied grain and grass for the imperial army, but also opened the gate and let the imperial soldiers and horses continue to go north until they were stationed under Youzhou City. During this period, Zhang Weixin, who stayed in Youzhou City, repeatedly invited the official family to enter Youzhou City to stay, but it was only because the ministers of the court and the central government were worried about the safety of the official family that they could not make the trip.

Of course, these are all speculations for the brother, and how the 'Qingyuan' brother will act in the end cannot be predicted by the brother. As the saying goes, 'don't be afraid of 10,000, just in case', in case the 'Qingyuan' brothers have bigger plans, the court still has to be prepared. Therefore, in the secret compromise, the brother suggested to the official family to pay close attention to the movements of the 'Qingyuan' brothers, and if the other party has any changes, they should be more careful. When necessary, the official family can leave Youzhou first, and patrol Sanguan and even Cangzhou, so as not to be taken advantage of by the 'Qingyuan' brothers. Because as long as the official family is safe and sound, they can use the power of the imperial court to compete with the 'Qingyuan' brothers. At that time, no matter how strong the 'Qingyuan' private soldiers are, they must also consider that if they completely break their faces with the imperial court, it is likely to cause the consequences of being attacked on their own backs - after all, although the Khitans were defeated in Youyun, they still have hundreds of thousands of male soldiers, and they may go south at any time to seek revenge on the 'Qingyuan' brothers. ”

Although it stands to reason that the contents of the secret compromise cannot be told to others. But in Zhao Kuangyin's view, Zhao Kuangyi is his own brother and an important member of the Labor Army Mission appointed by Chai Rong, and he actually has the same mission as himself. He will neither leak such confidential matters to irrelevant people, nor will he do anything to harm his brother, so Zhao Kuangyin will tell him the content of the secret fold, and he will not have to worry about anything.

After Zhao Kuangyi heard his brother's words, he was shocked in his heart. He had seen the power of the "Qingyuan" private soldiers, and naturally understood that if the other party was really an enemy of the imperial court, it would be difficult to say whether the 80,000 Great Zhou forbidden troops stationed under Youzhou City would be able to return to the south of Sanguan alive. And his brother should have stayed in Yuguan until Liu Guangyi came. If the "Qingyuan" brothers really have different ambitions, I am afraid that when the time comes, they will be the first to attack their brother - after all, his brother is an important minister of the imperial court and the commander of the front division of the palace, and he can be regarded as the one with the highest rank in the forbidden army except for Zhang Yongde, and killing him will be a very big blow to the imperial court. Therefore, Zhao Kuangyi hurriedly said to his brother: "In this case, wouldn't it be very dangerous for you to stay here, brother. If the 'Qingyuan' brothers really have a plan, the elder brother is likely to be the first person they want to kill. The elder brother must not stay here for a long time, and he should leave Yuguan with the younger brother and return to Youzhou City to report to the official family. ”

Zhao Kuangyin shook his head when he heard this, and said, "It's not appropriate, it's not appropriate." The excuse for us to come to Yuguan is to reward the 'Qingyuan' private soldiers for the Son of Heaven. Now that the labor army mission led by the Guangyi brothers has not yet arrived, the labor army envoy for the brother has returned to the Youzhou camp, which is unreasonable and unreasonable. The 'Qingyuan' brothers are all smart and shrewd people, and if the brother leaves in such a hurry, it will definitely arouse their suspicion and startle the snake. Yes, the brother must stay here. ”

Zhao Kuangyi was naturally unwilling when he heard this, and he wanted to persuade his brother again, but was stopped by Zhao Kuangyin with a wave of his hand and reprimanded: "You and I, as officials of the imperial court, should do our best to serve the imperial court." How can he put the safety of the court and the life and death of the official family at risk for the sake of his own life? You don't have to say more, pack up, take a few guards and set off back to Youzhou immediately, and be sure to send the secret fold safely to Bixia. ”

Seeing that his brother's expression was serious and his words were extremely solemn, Zhao Kuangyi did not dare to disobey again, so he immediately took the wooden box with a dense fold, said goodbye to his brother, and took four or five entourage guards to leave Yuguan in the name of picking up Liu Guangyi, and galloped all the way along the official road, heading straight to Youzhou City, which was hundreds of miles away.

At the same time that Zhao Kuangyi rushed out of the south gate of Yuguan with his brother's secret fold to Youzhou City, Qian Yuanshan also rushed into the room where Wang Kunjun lived, handed a telegram to the other party, and said: "I just received a telegram from the starling brother, more than 20,000 elite cavalry of the Khitan army and more than 10,000 local villagers, under the personal leadership of Yelu Dilie, the fourth brother of Liao Muzong, began to attack Gubeikou Pass yesterday afternoon. ”