On the fifth day of the third month of the second year of Guangxi, the spring rain fell in the areas on both sides of the Yellow River, which played a very timely and important role in alleviating the drought that lasted for a winter.

On this morning, with a little bit of dampness and coldness, Situ Wang Yun, escorted by five hundred forest guards, embarked on the road north to merge the state. Wang Yun was from Luoyang City, which came out of the upper west gate between the gold market and the Haolong Garden, except for a few gatekeepers who served in the Situ Mansion who came to see him off, no one from the court came to see him off.

Under the gentle caress of the drizzle, the northbound convoy finally moved away from Luoyang City, walking on the official road leading to Pingyin, the ferry port on the south bank of the Yellow River. Lu Zhi, who was sitting in the car, didn't care that the rain outside the window would drift into the already not very warm car when the roller shutters were lifted.

Wang Yun carefully observed the expressions on the faces of the merchants and people who came from the south to the north, and after a long time, he found a phenomenon, the people who went north had a look of longing and expectation on their faces, and the people who came from the north had a reluctant expression on their faces. It is certain that many of the merchants and travelers who traveled north from the south had to cross the Yellow River north to Bingzhou, as he did, and it is also certain that the people who came from the north knew that they had not long left Bingzhou by looking at the large number of goods and parcels they were carrying.

Just from the change in the expressions on the faces of passers-by, Wang Yun felt the huge influence of Bingzhou among the Han states. Wang Yun was born in Bingzhou when he was a child, and naturally remembers that Bingzhou in the past was just a poor state in the north of the Han Dynasty with constant border troubles, sparse population, and barren land. Today's state should be attributed to the young man who chanted poetry and moon on the Yubi Pavilion in the Dragon Garden, he only took only ten years to change everything in the state, and it is really a great achievement to think about.

There was nothing to do all the way, Wang Yun and 500 guards successfully crossed the Yellow River north and came to Yi County in Hanoi County, which was less than 100 miles away from Keiguan. Thinking that the distance between Keiguan and the bank of the Yellow River was only 100 miles, and the distance from Luoyang was less than 200 miles, Wang Yun's heart felt terrible. In time, if Zhao Xing led a large army from Jiguan, he would be able to reach the imperial capital Luoyang in three or four days, and if there was a problem with the defense of Luoyang City, the Manchu Dynasty would be a caged bird and a prisoner of the stairs in an instant.

With a hint of worry and boredom, Wang Yun's team continued northward, and after another three or four days, they finally came to the front of Jiguan, which stood tall on the choke point of Taihang Mountain and Wangwu Mountain. When Wang Yun looked up at the giant pass in front of him, which had swallowed the lives of countless coalition soldiers and was still impregnable and majestic, the uneasiness and anxiety in his heart became even stronger.

Although Wang Yun is not an expert in military affairs, this will not affect his analysis and judgment with a keen political vision. The great deterrent effect that Keiguan brought to Hanoi County and even the Sili region will always exist in the future, unless the defense of Keiguan is again in the hands of the imperial court.

Lu Zhi focused the central army of the imperial court on the south bank of the Yellow River, hoping to use the natural danger of the Yellow River to block Zhao Xing's possible southward march in the future. There is nothing wrong with this, after all, Luoyang City is in danger to defend, and sending heavy troops to be stationed around it can not only make the emperor feel at ease, but also reduce the danger of fighting against the strong army of Bingzhou alone on the plain. But such a passive defense has completely exceeded the fighting style of General Lu Zhonglang, who is good at attacking fortifications and gnawing "hard bones". Wang Yun knew that Lu Zhi, the captain in charge of the world's soldiers and horses, only explained one problem, he was no longer sure that he could prevent Zhao Xing's brazen all-out attack......

Wang Yun, who had all kinds of confusion in his heart, touched a nail that was not big or small before Jiguan. Here's how it happened: the 500 Imperial Forest Army that went north with Wang Yun to merge with the state this time was not the Imperial Forest Army transferred / taught by Huangfu Song, but the sons of the wealthy lords in Luoyang City sent to the emperor, and these children had a nice name in the Han Dynasty, called "Lang", that is, the reserve team for the future emperor to select cadres.

If it was the soldiers of the Imperial Forest Army under Huangfu Song who had guarded the old emperor and attacked Lin County, no one would put up a stinky stand before Jiguan. Because they have tasted the hardships of the Zhenbei Army, they know that any subordinate unit of the Zhenbei Army that defends and passes the state pass cannot be easily frightened by a few scolding words. Scolding at the towering wall will only result in being ignored, or being directly closed and whistling down the bed crossbow and pierced into a string of sugar gourds......

These "Lang" officials, who were accustomed to walking sideways in Luoyang City, decided after hearing the guard general shouting that they would report the matter to the main general Xu Huang, and decided that before that, any men and horses with weapons were not allowed to enter the Jiguan, so they stopped doing it at that time and began to "greet" the women and children in the family of the guard.

It just so happened that it was the turn of Cheng Yuanzhi, who was born as a "yellow turban thief", to be on duty, this "soil bun" who did not know a few big characters, had never had any reverence for the imperial court, and now he heard that the soldiers of the Imperial Forest Army, who symbolized the highest power of the imperial court, "greeted" his mother and wife under the pass, and immediately became angry, and immediately commanded the soldiers who controlled the crossbow to defend the city, and carried out targeted removal of several "Lang" officials who had just opened their mouths and cursed.

When a large crossbow bolt as thick as a baby's arm and two feet long passed through the bodies of several "Lang" officials who were still chattering and cursing, everyone including Wang Yun froze for a while. A few people who were still alive just now were shot in the blink of an eye, and they burped and burped, and this visual impact was really big.

Wang Yunqiang endured the feeling of vomiting, and immediately ordered the rest of the guards to retreat back for half a mile, and then waited with a black face and a wordless waiting for the generals guarding the pass to deal with the aftermath.

Fortunately, not long after the time passed, a group of murderous soldiers, numbering about two hundred, came out of the Jiguan, followed behind the generals of Yiwen and Wuwu, and went straight to the place where Wang Yun was waiting.

"Oh, Lord Situ has come from afar, but we are neglected, sin, sin!" said to himself, when the scribe who had taken him first saw Lu Zhi's carriage from afar.

"Who's coming......, who's coming? Also, please report your name. The "Lang" officials, who had been frightened like a group of rabbits, no longer had the awesome aura just now, trembling with knives and guns in their hands, and shouted to the scribes not far away.

"In Xia and the Prefecture Pastor Liu Bo'an has come to greet the imperial court's envoy Lord Wang Situ Wang!" the scribe replied with a smile on his face and a smooth and gentle voice, completely different from the tone of the guard who had just closed the guard.

Wang Yun, who was sitting in the car and was angry, was also a little surprised when he heard that Liu Yu came to greet him in person, so he got out of the carriage and took a few steps forward to greet Liu Yu.

There is also a reason why Wang Yun was surprised, he was closed just now, and he thought that Bingzhou would only send an unpopular character to greet and accompany him, but he didn't expect to send the nominal supreme official. Liu Yuguan is the state pastor, regardless of whether he has the final say in the state or not, but at the lord level, the difference with Wang Yun is not too big. He can wait for Wang Yun under Jiguan, which is already the highest reception standard in Bingzhou.