Early the next morning, Zhao Ta got up and then walked around the house.

This mansion is not as big as the royal palace in Tokyo, and although Xinyeongju is a majestic city, the land area of the city is far from comparable to that of Tokyo, so it is not easy to build such a vast and magnificent mansion.

However, there should be everything in this mansion, the front, middle and back halls, the study and the back house, and the martial arts venue, which is a miniature version of the Qin Wangfu in Tokyo, about one-fifth of the original.

But this is also one of the best places in Xining Prefecture, and compared with the Yamen of Xining Zhizhou and Qingtang Temple, the Longyou Protectorate is not as spacious as here.

Zhao Ta walked slowly, Zhou Chu followed closely behind, and only Zhou Chu's Wu Xiaodao and Qian Wenxi followed Longyou.

"Let's almost get things done, I'll give you a house." Zhao Ta said lightly.

"The prince knows everything?" Zhou is a little embarrassed in the back.

"I know, it's not that I haven't seen the two of you eyebrows......" Zhao Ta stopped: "It's all so big and small, now that you get married, you can still hurry up and ask for a doll, and I'm afraid I won't be able to do it in two years." ”

Zhou immediately blushed, he and Mei Niang had already discussed before, to report the matter of the two, if Zhao Tan allowed, then immediately handle the family affairs, but it happened to be in time to move Longyou, so it was delayed.

"The subordinates have thanked the prince for his kindness, and the subordinates are grateful, and they can't repay it, and they are willing to go up the sword mountain and the sea of fire for the prince, and never hesitate!" He knelt on the ground with a "poof" and kowtowed.

Zhao Ta frowned and kicked him: "Get up and speak!" ”

Zhou got up from the ground, and Ai Ai said: "Lord, then the subordinates will choose a date with Mei Niang, and then report to the prince?" ”

"Choose, choose!" Zhao Ta was actually very worried in his heart, there were one or two hundred subordinates in so many descendants, but there were less than ten of them who had a family.

He reasoned with these people when he had nothing to do, but he was all in and out of his left ear, and he forgot about it when he turned around, and would rather work hard every day, play some sticks, and talk about martial arts than start a family.

In fact, he pays a lot of money to these subordinates every month, and he is rewarded with red envelopes on New Year's holidays, even if it is a place like Tokyo, it is not a problem at all to marry a young lady, but no one takes the matter of starting a family to heart.

But how can you not be married? Zhao Ta shook his head, and said: "Don't patronize yourself, if you have time to enlighten and enlighten a few people in the mansion, although this little lady in Xining Prefecture is not more delicate than Tokyo, she is better than her bold personality and straightforward temperament. ”

Zhou Chu thought about it when he heard this, and said with a smile: "Lord Wang, the knife is easy to say, his father specially told him before he died that he must become his own son, and he also has the heart to start a family, but he has never met the right one, Qian Wenxi...... The prince knows him, he is a strange person, as for Lei San, how can I persuade him. ”

Zhao Ta sighed and shook his head, in addition to the mansion, there are so many people in the Broken Jade Building, what a headache.

At this moment, someone suddenly trotted over in the distance: "Lord Wang, Lord Wang......"

Zhao Ta looked at Shi Jin and said, "What's the matter with Da Lang?" ”

Shi Jin said: "Lord, the Xihe army is here, and the soldiers have come to the city, and Liu Du has taken command of the city head, and let his subordinates report to the prince." ”

Zhao Ta squinted his eyes: "Lead the way ahead, and this king will also go to the city to take a look." ”

A moment later, Zhao Ta came to the city, only to see Liu Suiyun wearing armor and looking out at the battlements.

"What's going on next?" Zhao Ta said.

Liu Suiyun saw him coming over and hurriedly saluted: "Lord Wang, there should be more than 30,000 people on the other side, under the banner of Yao and Xin, but Yao Gu didn't come, it should be his nephew Yao Pingzhong and the Xin family brothers." ”

Zhao Ta nodded: "There is nothing left for them outside the city, right?" ”

Liu Suiyun said: "No, after the prince entered the city yesterday, his subordinates asked the people of the horse farm to pull all the horses into the city, and the trenches and traps were all arranged. ”

Zhao Ta walked to the battlements and looked, only to see that there was a large army arrayed outside the land of about one stone's throw, including the horse infantry army, about one and a half ratio, he said: "Is the cavalry in Xizhou like this?" ”

Liu Suiyun nodded and said: "Lord Wang, isn't it so much, according to the number of people, it should be that in addition to the Zhenwu Army and the border army on the front line of Lanzhou, the remaining soldiers who can be mobilized have been sent." ”

Zhao Tan sneered: "Originally, I wanted to defend the city, but now I can't eat it, it's just that these people are going north to fight the Liao State, let them taste a little bitterness, it is estimated that it will not be long before the will of the official family comes, and they will all have to withdraw." ”

Liu Suiyun said: "What the prince said is extremely true, and when they attack the city, let them know something." ”

Zhao Ta looked into the distance, thinking slightly, at this moment the soldiers and horses on the opposite side did not move, and there was no intention of camping, he said: "It may not be necessary to wait for them to attack the city, as long as they dare to step into the arrow field, they will launch it directly, don't care about the artillery arrow crossbow, the most important thing in Longyou is stones and feathers." ”

Liu Suiyun said: "Yes, Lord Wang, I will make arrangements now." ”

Watching him go to pass the order, Zhao Ta touched his chin and pondered, this Qingtang City is a dry city, there is no moat around, it all depends on the high prestige of the city and the dangerous terrain to protect, but it is very easy to defend and difficult to attack, it is more difficult to fight than those with moats, when the Great Song Dynasty went to the river twice, it took more than 100,000 soldiers to finally conquer it, although it is not as good as it was at the beginning, but it is not more than 30,000 people who can come to pick up the tiger's beard.

At this time, the opposing army suddenly stepped out and galloped towards the city, as if he wanted to shout.

Zhao Ta said to Shi Jin behind him: "Take a three-stone bow." ”

Shi Jin turned around and took his bow and arrows, and saw the rider shouting loudly while running: "Can King Qin be in the city?" ”

Zhao Ta took a look, but he didn't know him, but the other party came out of the Xin Zi banner, so he might be a brother of Xin Xingzong.

Xin Xingzong is the commander of the soldiers and horses on the Xihe Road, also known as the capital of the capital, which is lower than the head of the soldiers and horses, and the head of the soldiers and horses along the way is concurrently served by the pacification envoy, so his military power on the Xihe Road is second only to Jingluo to pacify Yao Gu.

Zhao Ta is not optimistic about the Xin family, the Xin family is the head snake of the Xihe River, Xin Xingzong's father Xin Shuxian was the general who followed Tong Guan Wang Hou to attack Longyou, and since then the Xin family has stood in line with Tong Guan.

Later, after the end of the Battle of Longyou, Xin Shuxian fought with Western Xia again, accumulated military merits, changed cultural resources, and served as the governor of Huangzhou to retire, and the Xin family completely took root in Hehuang.

Over the years, the Xin family has been in Xihe, and it can be said that they have been pervasive, annexing land, forcibly occupying fertile land, monopolizing commerce, and infiltrating the army.

Although there are warlords in the northwest, whether it is a family or a family, a Yao family, or other young generals such as Liu, Yang, Gao, etc., even if they are arrogant and domineering on weekdays, they are not as excessive as the Xin family.

The Xin family is dominant in Xihe, not only oppressing and shouting at some officials in Xihe, but also squeezing out other people who come to Xihe as officials, and simply treating Xihe Road as their own home, and many affairs are not allowed to be intervened by others.

Xin Shuxian has four sons and a nephew, all of whom serve in Xihe, and the son's son, the nephew's son, and many clansmen are all officials in Xihe.

Therefore, in Zhao Tan's heart, if he wants to control the Xihe River, even if he only controls half of the territory west of the Yellow River, this Xin family must be removed, because the Xin family's nest is in Huangzhou, and Huangzhou is one of the three states in Hexi that he must take, and the Xin family cannot take refuge in him, even if he takes refuge, he will not rest assured.

Zhao Ta took the bow and arrow handed by Shi Jin at this time, and shot at the cavalry who was running in the distance.

The three-stone bow is the strongest in the conventional bow and arrow of the Great Song Dynasty, generally speaking, it is usually just a decoration, the existence of symbolism, such as the time of martial arts, the competition to open the bow force, the highest is the three-stone bow, but no one pulls it at all, because it is impossible to pull, and the three stone bows that can pull the three-stone bow have been famous since ancient times, and the famous generals of later generations.

As for the arrows of the three-stone bow, they are also different from the usual, they are heavier than ordinary feather arrows, and the arrow cluster is larger and heavier, because the thrust of the bowstring is too strong, and the arrow body will lose its accuracy if it is light.

But Zhao Ta easily pulled the bow at the moment, and then shot out an arrow, he didn't care who the person who ran from the Xin Zi banner was, whether it was a child of the Xin family or a general, if he dared to enter the land of an arrow, he would have no return.

Just look at the arrow like a stream of fire, outrageously fast, in an instant to the front of this horse, poor this rider will not have time to react, then this arrow directly hit under the chest, what chain mail will be official armor, at this moment like paper paste, directly by the three-stone strong bow, egg-sized arrow hard into the armor, and then tear alive, the powerful inertia directly pushed the arrow through the chest.

The horseman did not even shout, and fell, and the horse ran forward a few more paces, before he felt that something was wrong and stopped to look back at his master, and when he saw his master fall to the ground motionless, he ran over and let out a "slippery" wail.

Seeing this scene, the team immediately became agitated, and saw another person rushing out under the banner of the word Xin, but he was wearing pale golden armor and a red cloak, this person took a few steps forward, but he seemed to be afraid of arrows, suddenly stopped, and shouted loudly: "King Qin, why did you kill my Xin family's children?" ”

Although the voice was far away, Zhao Ta could hear it clearly, he raised his eyebrows, this tone was somewhat familiar, and then looking at what this person was wearing, he had already judged in his heart that it was Xin Xingzong.

He had seen Xin Xingzong when he was conquering Fangla, and in order to prevent this person from snatching Han Shizhong's credit, he also specially asked Zhe Kecun to look for it.

He had a very bad impression of Xin Xingzong in his heart, because in normal history, this person not only robbed Han Shizhong's credit, but even Song Jiang's credit.

In normal historical development, Song Jiang and Liangshan soldiers also participated in the expedition to Fangla.

After Zhang Shuye recruited Song Jiang and Liangshan at that time, he gave the Ming court and arranged it to enter the Xihe army to attack Hangzhou, when Hangzhou had fallen into the hands of thieves, Fang Qifo was stationed in the city, there were 60,000 soldiers, and the Xihe army could not attack for a long time, and finally Song Jiang used a strategy to break Hangzhou and capture Fang Qifo alive.

However, Wang Yu, the commander of the Chinese army, wanted to record the merits of Song Jiang and others, but Xin Xingzong said: "Song Jiang and other original thieves, although they have meritorious service in breaking the city, they are just atonement for their previous sins. ”

The king couldn't compete with him, and he was afraid of Tong Guan, so he had to give up.

It can be seen from the quality of Xin Xingzong, and Bahu is even more rare among the generals of the Western Army, not to mention Yu Xihe.

Zhao Ta glanced at him coldly at the head of the city, and then looked at Liu Suiyun, who had already sent the order back.

Liu Suiyun immediately understood, and as soon as he raised his hand, the defenders of the city shouted loudly: "Death to those who advance!" Death to those who advance! ”

The sound was loud and shook the sky.

In the distance, Xin Xingzong's face sank like water with anger, and the mount "Da Da Da" took a few steps back, he looked back behind him, only to see that everyone behind him also looked ugly.

In fact, he didn't want to take this errand at all, although it was said that the imperial court's will allowed the king of Qin to be detained and arrested, but it did not clearly state what crime the king of Qin had committed, whether it was a rebellion or something else, so he kept beating the drum in his heart.

He knows too well who the King of Qin is, he used to just hear his name, but the first battle of Jiangnan gave him a glimpse of what it means to use soldiers like a god, and in his heart, King Qin is a prince, in fact, as long as he is not a rebellion, then other sins are nothing at all, after all, he is the son of an official family, and the official title is a prince.

So he didn't want to lead the troops, but Yao Gu wanted to send him, and almost all the troops except for the defense of the city were mobilized.

Yao Gu has his own reason for doing this, from the harsh wording of Zhao Ta's holy decree of breaking into the realm with cavalry, not counting swords and soldiers, and reporting eight hundred miles urgently, he estimated in his heart that the King of Qin was a rebellion, as for why he didn't say it explicitly in the will, that is, the official family had a good face, and he refused to speak out directly and was rebelled by his son, he understood the Daojun Emperor, so he sent Xin Xingzong and Yao Pingzhong over.

But Xin Xingzong couldn't figure it out, and now he saw a cold arrow in the city shoot a child of the Xin family, and he couldn't help but feel resentful in his heart.

"General Yao!" He shouted at the other side.

Yao Pingzhong is currently the second deputy general of Xihe Road, although he offended Tong Guan and was looked down upon by Tong Guan, but he was also born in the Yao family, and Yao Gu was his father, so his official position has climbed up little by little in the past two years.

When he heard this, he immediately patted his horse and said, "What does Commander Xin command?" ”

Xin Xingzong said: "Now that the four gates of Xining City are closed, and the city head is hurting people with cold arrows, I think the King of Qin will be in the city, and now only by capturing the city can he capture it." ”

Yao Pingzhong clicked his eyes and said, "Then attack it......" He thought to himself, you are the commander, do you want to ask me if you attack the city or not? Don't you want me to take the lead.

Xin Xingzong said: "Then bother General Yao to take people to test it first." ”

Yao Pingzhong shook his head like a rattle when he heard this, looked at the children of the Xin family under the Xin character, and said: "Commander, this Xining City is majestic, what use can I use with only 3,000 people?" I think it is necessary to make up five, seven or eight thousand, so that I can be tempted, otherwise there will be a trap and trench in front of the city, and these three thousand people will not be enough for the other party to stuff their teeth. ”

Xin Xingzong frowned when he heard this, Yao Pingzhong is not like other generals, he can handle it at will, after all, he is the Yao family, or Yao Gu's subordinate, he can't suppress people with power, so he said with a cold face: "Okay, then I'll send another three thousand." ”

After speaking, he gestured behind him, and immediately a child of the Xin family led the troops out of the ranks, Yao Pingzhong twitched his face when he saw it: "Okay, then go over and test the temptation." ”

Then the two teams of men and horses divided left and right, and then went to the city of Xining, because it was a dry city, there was no need to build a wooden bridge, so the people behind carried thick tree trunks, intending to go over and hit the city gate.

But as soon as these soldiers entered the city under the arrow field, they heard the sound of drums at the head of the city, and then they saw countless cannons and stones falling down, as if covering the sky and the sun, and the arrows and feathers were like locusts, so dense that they could not see the sky.

"Holy!" Yao Pingzhong shrank his neck in fright, turned his mount and ran.

The children of the Xin family over there didn't go anywhere, so they also turned their horses' heads and retreated.

Xin Xingzong was stunned in the rear, and the rest of the generals were also dumbfounded, where had they seen such a fierce artillery arrow flying, this was simply madness!

Normally speaking, since it is to defend the city, it is necessary to highlight the word "guard", not to waste at will, all the ordnance and utensils must be used just right, otherwise once it is used and there is nowhere to replenish, then how to defend the city? Do you only rely on the sword and gun of the city to fight each other? That's not far from the lost city.

Xin Xingzong looked at the two generals who ran back in a hurry, his face was pale, and in just a few breaths, the soldiers in front of him were stoned to death and shot one or two hundred, and they couldn't rush up at all.

He gritted his teeth, secretly lucky in his heart, stared at his eyes and was about to speak, when suddenly there was a loud "bang", and he didn't know where a crossbow gun was shot from the city, hitting three feet in front of his horse.

Seeing this, the war horse raised his head and neighed, he was suddenly frightened on the horse, and the cold sweat on his forehead instantly flowed, and he hurriedly ordered: "Retreat back half a mile, retreat back half a mile......"

(End of chapter)