Muzhou, northwest of Qingxi County, Bangyuantong.

Bangyuantong is also known as Bangyuandong, which is about 40 miles wide and deep, and spans dozens of miles.

Outside it, the mountains are stacked, the road is tortuous, and there are many cliffs and cliffs on both sides, and the terrain is dangerous and steep.

The caves in it are connected, there are big and small, there are deep and shallow, the ring is interconnected, I don't know where the exit is, outsiders enter the inside, most of them get lost.

There is a hill in front of Bangyuan Cave called Jianmen Ridge, which is the barrier of Bangyuan, there are two mountains in the north of Jianmen Ridge, there is a mountain pass at the junction of the two mountains, called the North Mountain Pass, which is the right way to enter the Gangyuan.

In the south of Jianmen Ridge, there is a hidden trail on the mountainside, which is the secret road in and out of the Gangyuan, called Nanshan Pass, and you can take the mountain road from here to reach the Gangyuan.

The South Pass is covered in a bamboo jungle and is very hidden, making it extremely difficult for people who are not familiar with the terrain to find it.

Now it is more than ten days after the Battle of Muzhou, Liu Yanqing has more than 20,000 soldiers and horses from his headquarters, and he can save 10,000 soldiers, Yao Pingzhong has 10,000 soldiers, and Zhao Ta has sent Du Yan to lead another 10,000 soldiers, a total of more than 50,000 people, to attack the source.

Because the terrain was unfamiliar, the soldiers and horses were stationed in Jianmen Ridge, and then scouts were sent into it to investigate.

But for two or three days in a row, none of these scouts sent out came back, and I don't know if they got lost in the mountains and were eaten by wolves, insects, tigers and leopards, or if there were thieves in this area everywhere in the Gangyuan area, and they were captured and killed.

Liu Yanqing hurriedly discussed, frowning and waiting: "It has always been more soldiers to suppress and suppress more soldiers in the mountains, and the number of soldiers is used to make up for the terrain disadvantage, according to the previous Fang La's military strength, now there are at least more than 100,000 or 200,000 thieves in this gang of Yuandong, and now we are only waiting for more than 50,000 soldiers and horses, and it is laborious to investigate, so how can we attack?" ”

The generals were silent, such things were obvious, and no one could think of a good way.

At this moment, suddenly the colonel outside the tent came to report: "Boss, there are countless black crows and crows in the distance, waving the king's flag, and an outpost general came to give an order, saying that His Royal Highness King Yun has arrived!" ”

Liu Yanqing was stunned when he heard this, and hurriedly stood up: "King Yun is here to help Yuan?" ”

The next Zhi Kecun and Yao Pingzhong glanced at each other, and said in their hearts that it was true, after the defeat of Muzhou, they returned to Hangzhou to reorganize the army, Zhao Ta once said that King Yun was likely to come over to pick peaches and rob military merits, so that they should be cautious.

Yao Pingzhong secretly glanced at Liu Yanqing, and when he looked stunned, he couldn't help frowning secretly.

At this moment, King Yun's outpost general arrived, and when the generals saw it, everyone else recognized it except Du Yan, and it turned out to be Liu Guangshi.

Yao Pingzhong couldn't help pursing his lips, and said in his heart that the father and son reported the news, and pretended to be surprised, and the Liu family was also thick-skinned.

Obviously, Liu Yanqing went to the secret letter to Zhao Kai to report the military situation, even if he didn't want to befriend Zhao Kai, the king of Yun, he had to think about his son.

Liu Yanqing has a total of 14 children, the most outstanding of which is the eldest son Liu Guangguo and the second son Liu Guangshi, Liu Guangguo is in the account at the moment, once the army holds Fang La, the war exploits are proper, but Liu Guangshi followed Zhao Kai in Hongzhou, if Zhao Kai has not sent troops, in the end he will not get anything.

So Liu Yanqing wrote a letter to the past, this letter naturally could not be written directly to Liu Guangshi, but to Zhao Kai, reported the current war situation, and said that almost all of the two Zhejiang provinces were recovered, and now the thieves are in the gang, and the war is about to end, as for whether to come, it is Zhao Kai's own decision, he did not take the initiative to ask the three kings to send troops in the letter, but he estimated that this is ten out of ten will run over to fight for merit.

At this time, Liu Guangshi saluted and said: "Dashuai, King Yun is galloping the thieves, and he has arrived not far in front of the tent, so please go and greet him." ”

Liu Yanqing suddenly let out a "ahhh ”

Zhe Ke was embarrassed to watch him act, and the corners of his mouth twitched, Yao Pingzhong raised his eyebrows disdainfully, and the two followed out of the big tent.

After a while, Zhao Kai walked in surrounded by a group of people, the wild road was rugged, he was wearing a robe, his shoes and robes were dirty, and there were straw sticks and thorns hanging on it, which looked like a dusty man.

He was excited at the moment, but he didn't care about these side details, if he couldn't stand such dirty pickles on weekdays, he would immediately have to bathe and change clothes.

He is in a hurry at the moment, military merit is greater than everything, and with military merit, he has the confidence to completely tear apart his face and compete with Zhao Huan.

Emperor Daojun had already had the idea of replacing the crown prince, and he had secretly mentioned him, and the ministers of the Manchu Dynasty did not say that they all supported him, and there were seven or eight out of ten, and the remaining one or two percent were mostly neutral wall grass.

As long as he has sufficient military merits, then it will be a matter of course to change the crown prince!

Zhao Kai sat down in the handsome chair, after greeting and asking a few words, he listened to Liu Yanqing's report on the military situation, when he heard Liu Yanqing say that none of the scouts returned, and he was suspected of being captured and killed by the thief army, he couldn't help but say: "The thief leader Fang La rose in the mountains, and most of the villages below the source of this gang were taken by the thief army, and these people were killed, and the thief army had nowhere to stay, so they could only run back to the cave, and the army could drive straight in." ”

Liu Yanqing said: "King Yun's plan is very good, the thief leader started an incident in the name of the Demon Sect, this gang is a village and a village, all of them are infected, but if they are killed, there will be no mistake." ”

Then he said that the source of the gang is deep and vast, the mountain is dense and rugged, and it is difficult to march to find the entrance to the cave, and it is rumored that the cave has nine twists and turns, and there are few soldiers in their own country, so there is no plan to use for the time being.

Zhao Kai raised his head and thought about it, and suddenly remembered a book in the art of war that he carried before departure, which recorded such a situation, and couldn't help but say: "This is not simple, set fire to the mountain, the mountain is burned with grass and trees, and there is no dense and rugged forest to disturb, and all the holes will be exposed!" ”

Liu Yanqing hurriedly clapped his hands and applauded, Zhao Kai continued: "The chain in the cave is difficult to do, it is too wide and deep, and the mountain smoke is afraid that it will not be enough. ”

It is useless to smoke in the Yuanyuan cave, not to mention that the inside extends in all directions for dozens of miles, that is, the direction of the mountain wind is changeable, and this kind of breathable cave has always been blown from the inside out, I am afraid that if the smoke is not fanned in, all the Song troops who smoke will be smoked.

What Zhao Kai said was not that he originally knew, but he had done too much homework on this expedition, not only drinking and having fun in Hongzhou, listening to beauties singing and dancing, but also reading a lot of military books.

Grinding the gun in battle, not fast and light, even if you know it but don't know why, you can take it out and use it reluctantly.

As for not going to Jiangning to sit in the town after coming over, but ran to Hongzhou, I also learned it from the book of soldiers, what to avoid its edge, etc., and then learned that Huang Que was behind, waiting for the end of the bandits, and immediately came to harvest.

Liu Yanqing couldn't help but praise and compliment, Zhao Kai was a little complacent, and ordered: "Rest for the night, tomorrow we will catch and kill all the thieves hiding in the nearby villages, and then we can march to Gangyuan and set fire to the mountain!" ”

Hangzhou, Zhao Ta sat in the mansion, looking at the secret letter sent back by Yao Pingzhong, Zhao Kai really came to pick peaches, but this timing was not very good, it seemed to be ...... It's a bit early.

Zhao Kai's strategy of killing the village and burning the mountain is too tyrannical, and there is a suspicion of indiscriminate killing of innocents, as for whether there are thieves hiding in the village, the answer is naturally yes, but whether they are all thieves is impossible to think about with their butts.

However, Bangyuan is the place where Fang La started the incident, and the four towns and eight neighbors have long been the same party, and many people believe in Mingjiao, but they did not rise with the army.

Are these people guilty? According to the law of the Great Song Dynasty, there must be crimes, and they can be counted as anti-thieves.

Yi Fang La's acts of rebellion against the emperor and the things he did, once these people are caught, they will basically be charged with capital crimes.

But there must be some people who do not believe in Mingjiao and do not collude with the thief army, and after Zhao Kai's order continues, he will probably die.

Zhao Ta sighed, he couldn't stop this matter, at most he restrained Yao Pingzhong and a few people not to do it, but that's it, Zhao Kai had 30,000 soldiers under his own command, he couldn't order, and he couldn't command Zhao Kai.

Sitting in the palace, he asked Zhang Xian to bring someone to escort General Lu up, after the previous war, General Lu was imprisoned in the state prison, and he was interrogated twice, but General Lu was silent, and he was not as scolding as he was in the city, just asking and not saying anything, Zhao Ta was a little confused about his identity.

Later, Fang Gu was called, Fang Gu's so-called "insect poison" has been solved at this moment, Zhao Ta gave him a credit, and the official position said that he would be sealed after returning to the dynasty, Fang Gu had betrayed Fang La, and how could he dare to say half a word.

Fang Gu recognized General Lu, and when he came up, he broke General Lu's identity, and now General Lu couldn't bear it anymore, so he sprayed Fang Gu with blood.

Zhao Ta asked Fang Gu to go down, and then looked General Lu up and down, General Lu was Fang La's military advisor, and he was the most strategic figure under Fang La, and General Lu was still a student, and he was also the person who read the most under Fang La.

General Lu glared at Zhao Ta with a look of resentment.

Zhao Ta smiled and said, "General Lu, this king has heard of you, and it was because he wrote to the imperial court to ask for the punishment of Zhu Mian, so he was punished and never hired, right?" ”

Lu Jiang snorted coldly: "Dog King, if you want to kill or chop, even if you come, why bother to say more!" ”

Zhao Ta shook his head: "If I want to kill you, I will kill you in the city of Hangzhou, why wait until now?" ”

General Lu was stunned when he heard this, Zhao Ta was telling the truth, he woke up once when he was in the city of Hangzhou, and saw corpses everywhere, not only Wang Gong Lao Buddha died, but Pang Wanchun and Deng Yuanjue also died in the city.

Zhao Ta said again: "General Lu, seeing that you are young, who else is in the family?" ”

General Lu didn't answer, he couldn't figure out Zhao Tan's intentions, he didn't kill him in the city, and he didn't kill him now, he thought to himself, there was nothing worth Zhao Ta to use.

He is neither the son and nephew of the Holy Father, nor the direct cronies of the Holy Father, and he can be a military advisor only because he has read a lot of books, whether it is Mingjiao or the Holy Dynasty, he needs to be a well-educated scholar.

He is not arrogant, he can see all this clearly, but this does not delay his hatred of the erosion and corruption of the imperial court, does not delay his hatred of Zhu Mian's fish and meat people, and messes up the south of the Yangtze River into a mess of darkness, nor does it delay his belief in Mingzun and taking light as the most sacred goal in his heart.

Zhao Ta saw that he was silent, and then said: "You are a scholar, so the king of this book will talk to you as a scholar." ”

General Lu frowned: "I haven't read those pedantic books for a long time. ”

Zhao Ta ignored his words, and just continued: "You are both a scholar and a student, and you know the history of the ancients, this king will ask you, do you think Fang La and others can achieve great things?" ”

Lu Jiang didn't expect Zhao Ta to ask this, he thought that he was going to use the great principles in the book to pressure himself, but who knew that he couldn't afford the Holy Father, so he said angrily: "How can the Holy Father despise it!" ”

Zhao Ta said: "This king only asks if you think he can achieve great things?" ”

General Lu took a deep breath, gritted his teeth and said: "It's a pity that the Holy Father doesn't listen to me, if you listen to me and go straight to Jiangning, how can there be today's situation!" ”

Zhao Ta shook his head: "What if you listen to it?" Even if Jiangning is temporarily lost, how can you hold on? You are waiting for the rebel army, you can't do anything, you don't have the law, and the internal chaos is unbearable, not only to start an incident, but also to use the Mingjiao canons to manage the army in the court, how can it last long? ”

General Lu said angrily: "Nothing, let you say it, since you haven't gone down to Jiangning, no matter what you say!" If Jiangning seizes the Yangtze River, you can go straight to Zhongzhou and Tokyo, and retreat to the trench to confront you, why won't it last long? It's never too late to legislate! Your Zhao and Song Dynasty court is extravagant and corrupt, the faint monarch reuses traitors, uses flowers and stones to work the people and hurt money, and stirs up the south of the Yangtze River into a miasma, and the people are not happy, my holy religion holds high the banner of righteousness, and has the support of all surnames, and sooner or later it will overthrow your Zhao family's court! ”

Zhao Ta saw that he was excited, reached out and touched his chin, and said in a different way: "General Lu, then why do you think Fang La didn't listen to you at that time and went straight to Jiang Ning?" ”

When General Lu heard this, his emotions as if he had been beaten with chicken blood suddenly weakened, and he said a little stupidly: "The Holy Father is not confused, but he must first arrest Zhu Mian and avenge the people of Jiangnan Limin, so that he will not listen to me, the Holy Father is the prince of benevolence and righteousness!" ”

Zhao Ta said: "Military affairs, how can you act on your will? Fang La's temperament is like this, once he makes a mistake, he will make two mistakes, and if he doesn't listen to you, there will be two or three times. ”

General Lu glared at Zhao Ta and turned his head silently.

Zhao Ta smiled: "It's just a matter of being a sect leader, and that's how much you can do it, but what kind of rebellion can you make, what can you do?" This king looks at him, he has neither the virtue of a king, nor the image of a king! ”

"You!" General Lu turned his head angrily: "Don't be complacent, sooner or later, the Holy Father will return to Hangzhou, and then go down the Yangtze River, capture the faint king, and overturn your court!" ”

Zhao Ta smiled slightly, waved his hand in front of him, and Zhang Xian immediately came over and lifted Lu Jiang and walked out.

When he arrived at the door, Zhao Ta suddenly spoke again: "Now that the two Zhejiang counties have been recovered, Fang La has been defeated and retreated, and the turtle has shrunk to help the source, my Great Song Dynasty Heavenly Army has been besieged layer by layer, and the traitors are only destroyed in the morning and night, what is the Jiangshan Sheji, chasing the Central Plains, but it is yesterday's yellow flower, a good dream......

"What did you say?" Hearing this, General Lu desperately turned around and shouted: "You are lying to me, this is impossible, this is absolutely impossible!" ”

He wanted to struggle and turn around, but Zhang Xian pulled the rope behind him and pushed him out......

The next day, Zhao Ta received a report from Tong Guan, a big victory over the Xianyou Lu Shi Bao thief army, killing 50,000 or 60,000 enemies, Lu Shi Nang jumped into the sea with dozens of cronies and fled, nowhere to be found, so far, the entire eastern Zhejiang, has been fully recovered, Tong Guan army has begun to return since the report.

The next day, after receiving a secret letter from Yao Pingzhong, Liu Yanqing slaughtered the villages around Gangyuan according to the strategy of King Yun, which was smooth at first, but later encountered an ambush by the thief army, and lost five or six thousand people to kill feathers and returned, but he didn't even let go of the mountain fire......

(End of chapter)