In the middle of December of the fifth year of Jingkang, Emperor Zhao Huan drove to Tongguan, which was still a hundred miles away, so that Zhao Ding had already led many generals under his command to go out of the customs to welcome.

When they arrived at the place where Zhao Huan was stationed, everyone rushed into the air, and asked Zhang Xian, the head of the camp, only to know that the emperor took Zhang Jun and Wang Ye and other privy councillors, and under the escort of Niu Gao, the deputy head of the Fengsheng Army, and others, they had already gone to Guancheng to check.

Zhao Ding was first shocked when he heard this, and immediately put out a privy shelf and loudly reprimanded Zhang Xian for his poor protection.

Zhang Xian was rough by nature, where did he know the rules of officialdom, and immediately replied straightly: "The privy council is here, can you resist Your Majesty!" ”

Zhao Dingqi's nose was crooked, and he said angrily: "Of course, the official must think about the monarch's father, and the monarch's father must speak out bluntly if he is wrong, how can he ignore it." ”

"Yes, the last will be incompetent. However, His Majesty said at the time that he had arrived at Guancheng with a big frame, and his prestige was certainly great, but the Jin soldiers were not far away, and they knew everything. It's better to ride first and find a way to see what is going on. Otherwise, after traveling thousands of miles, they will take care of some civil affairs, but military affairs will not be visible. The last general listened to what His Majesty said reasonably, so he did not persuade again. ”

"Hmm."

Zhao Ding was still angry, looked at the newly favored young general who looked like usual, nodded, and said: "It's okay, you are here to protect the camp, don't tell others that Your Majesty has gone to Guancheng." ”

"Yes, it's natural."

Zhang Xian saluted Zhao Ding very neatly, and then bowed to the rest of the generals of the Western Army.

"I've seen General Zhang."

Most of the other generals of the Western Army had a view of the door, and they were worried about Zhang Xian, the new head of the Fengsheng Army, and did not want to deal with him more, but Wu Fu, who was also a young general, saw Zhang Xian's appearance and admired it in his heart, so he nodded to Zhang Xian.

Where did Zhao Ding have the leisure to pay attention to the intrigue between these generals, knowing that the emperor was not there, he was not interested in everything in the imperial camp in front of him, so he immediately turned over and got on his horse. Whipping ordered: "Let's go, go to Guancheng to see Your Majesty." ”

At this time, it was almost noon, everyone was already hungry, and the military generals were no better than the literati, and they spent a lot of effort every day, and when they ate a little late, they felt exhausted. Just go to see the emperor, and everyone doesn't dare to slack off. They had to frown with sad faces, followed Zhao Ding and got on the horse, and galloped towards Guancheng.

Tongguan West Bohua Mountain, south of Qinling, east of Taolin, west of the Yellow River, Weishui, Luoshui three major rivers of the confluence, for Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan three provinces junction, stacked valleys and deep cliffs, lofty mountains and mountains, in the middle of a sheep intestine road. Only one cart and one horse can be accommodated. It has always been the throat of the three Qin locks and four towns, and it is the first dangerous pass in China since the Qin and Han dynasties, in front of this pass. Even if you have thousands of troops, it is difficult to threaten the safety of this important pass.

Zhao Huan, regardless of this life or previous life, is the first time to see this history book endless pen first Xiongguan, he took Zhang Jun, Wang Ye, Yu Yunwen and other civil officials privy, but they are all in armor, followed by more than 1,000 cavalry patrols and guards in the territory of Niu Gao, and all around the territory of the Song Dynasty, everywhere are patrolling Song troops and busy people, there is no problem in safety.

Wait for the group to gallop to the vicinity of Tongguan and look at the Tianxia Xiongguan built in the middle of the mountainside. Zhao Huan gasped, and he was stunned.

In addition to the towering city wall, there are enemy towers and pavilions, there are twelve cities and three city towers in Guannan, the mountain and the city wall are connected together, Guanbei is a steep valley, the Yellow River water is rushing next to it, although it is dry in the middle of winter, because it is three 16K mobile station ap.'N water junction. The water is still so strong that it is impossible to cross the river in this vicinity.

He looked at this Xiongguan Pass in the lofty mountains and mountains, and there was an indescribable pride that rushed straight to his chest, and what he saw in his eyes were all soldiers of the Song Army in red robes and armor, standing tall at the head of the city, with clear swords and guns in their hands, and the cold light was dazzling.

It is no wonder that the Jin soldiers gathered the elite of the whole country, and there was no way to take this Tongguan.

An Lushan broke the Tong Pass, and the beautiful woman broke the Tong Pass, but the defenders in the pass crossed first, if the two armies were really facing each other, and forcibly breaking through the pass in such terrain, it was really no different from sending them to death.

was excited, but he heard Yu Yunwen beside him chanting: "When it rains, rest in Jinlou." The mountain is strong and the three are shut, and the door is closed and Kyushu. The river goes from Shaanxi Road, and the river flows around Huayin. Towards the late arrival, the wind and smoke are sad. ”

Zhao Huan tasted it carefully, thinking of the extremely hopeless scenery of this pass, and the pride of the world at a glance, and the ancients could build such a gate on such a terrain, and the wisdom and perseverance of it were so strong that it was really heartbreaking.

Tongguan was broken by someone during the Jingkang period, and if it was broken by his hands, and he ordered it to be repaired, this kind of complicated mind that really stood in front of a miracle in history and reality was really incomprehensible to him.

And at this moment, Zhao Huan saw the scenery like this, although there was still an endless stream of military and civilian workers transporting supplies to the front in front of him, his hands were covered with calluses, his face was full of smoke and dust, and he couldn't remember the poems and writings of the people who rose and died.

He was dressed in the armor of a soldier, but because of his identity, he ran at the front of the queue, and when he arrived at the bottom of the city, a large group of soldiers guarding the pass had already come forward, and the one who led the inspection was actually a battalion commander, Zhao Huan saw that the other party had two silver moon ranks on his shoulders, and he didn't care, only turned his head to Zhang Jun and smiled: "The inventory here is very strict." ”

This can be regarded as praising Zhao Ding in front of Zhang Jun, Zhang Jun pursed the corners of his mouth, but replied: "Not bad." ”

Wang Ye joked on the side: "Now it's because most of the enemies have retreated, so the investigation is very loose." If it had been questioned two months ago, there would have been people interrogating him dozens of miles away, where would he have been able to drive so long to the bottom of the city. ”

Zhao Huan smiled, while looking at Guancheng halfway up the mountain, he said: "Well, Tongguan has gathered countless goblin soldiers and strong generals in my Great Song Dynasty, and Zhao Ding is also very shrewd and capable, and he really lives up to my trust." ”

They were only concerned about talking, but they did not guard against the impatience of the commander and the others, and stepped forward to ask.

Wang Ye came to Tongguan many times to represent the imperial labor army, is very familiar with the situation of Guancheng, when he drove forward, with his own privy seal to let the officer see, and then temporarily headed by Wang Ye, Niu Gao led the escort army first, Zhao Huan was full of interest, actually took a group of privy ministers straight into the city, meandered straight up, first to the south of the Guan, to the enemy tower to look far away, when it was evening, standing on the mountainside, only to see the distant camp dozens of miles, the military camp and the smoke in the camp of the people swayed upward, straight to the sky Although the twilight gradually deepened, the figure of the horse running was still visible, the smoke and dust at dusk, the sound of drums and horns can be faintly heard, and the surrounding mountains are verdant, which is different from Guanzhong, this situation is really heartbreaking.

Zhao Huan looked at it for a while, and then saw dozens of bed crossbows proudly juxtaposed above the city, in addition, there were still many stone machines, 10,000 enemies and other sharp weapons to defend the city.

In addition to the city defense equipment at the head of the city, there are many stumbling horses and antlers under the gate of the city, which have been moved aside because the enemy has retreated far away and poses no threat to the city.

And it is in front of this Xiongguan in the world, the Jin soldiers relied on the siege equipment made by the craftsmen of the Liao State and the captured Song people, first confronted, and then attacked fiercely for two months, the city head and the city were filled with the corpses of the soldiers on both sides that day, in addition to the vicinity of this Guancheng, there are also nearby valleys and valleys, there are battlefields everywhere, in this narrow radius of dozens of miles, countless soldiers of the Song and Jin countries are buried in the battlefield, and blood is splashed under the city.

Zhao Huan stroked the city saucer with his hand, only felt that it was incomplete, and the broken stone fragments were very awkward, and then looked carefully, and saw that the city dish was surrounded by dark red blood-colored spots, which were obviously left by the Jin soldiers when they attacked the city that day.

He was shocked, the battle of hundreds of thousands of people on both sides, the Jin soldiers knew that the city was difficult to attack, in order to help the cavalry who attacked Chang'an, they still carried out several large-scale feints. It's just a feint, but in fact, the mobilized troops are more than 100,000, attacking from all sides, regardless of casualties, which makes the Song army near Tongguan extremely heavy casualties, and the pressure is not small.

Originally, the military report from the front was just a number, but now I stroked the city saucer, saw the bloodstains, and heard the waves as if shouting to kill, and I knew how tragic and cruel the so-called feint and destruction of the enemy was.

He was pondering to himself, Zhao Ding and the others had already rushed back, asked the commander of the pass, and knew that Wang Ye must be with the emperor, so he immediately went to the city, and saw Zhao Huan wearing an old cavalry armor from a distance, holding a helmet in one hand and caressing the city plate in the other, in a daze.

When he saw that the emperor did not go to the front, he couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief, and while hurrying forward, he secretly thought to himself: "Your Majesty has not been like this for a long time, and it is rare to see it today." ”

Zhao Ding Jinshi and his younger brother, Zhenghe had been a Beijing official in Tokyo for a period of time during the Zhenghe period, just when Cai You and others were very tight, the crown prince Zhao Huan did not like the sound of dogs and horses, and could not calligraphy and painting, and was very displeased with Zhao Ji, and his mother Queen Wang had died when he was eight years old, so not only no one in the court protected him, but even no one in the palace paid attention to him. Therefore, it is rumored that Zhao Huan is hesitant and often wears an old robe in a daze alone in the flower garden of Yanfu Palace, and Zhao Ding has seen it with his own eyes several times in the palace, and he knows that it is not a lie.

Since he was transferred to Chang'an by Zhao Huan, he only felt that the emperor was wise and decisive, and when he saw it today, he was bumping into Zhao Huan in a trance, but it was like a world away, and in his mind, it seemed that he had returned to the beautiful Yanfu Palace in heaven, next to the pool garden, a thin young man who had nothing to do was in a daze.

He shook his head again and again, dispelled the distracting thoughts in his mind, solemnly got in front of Zhao Huan, bowed his hand, kowtowed, and said, "Minister Zhao Ding, please see Your Majesty." ”

Behind Zhao Ding, Qu Duan, Wu Jue, Wu Phosphorus, Liu Xi, Guan Shigu and other generals knelt down in turn, and the swords and armor made a ping pong, and everyone kowtowed, and said in unison: "The ministers have seen Your Majesty." ”