Han Bing saw Yang Peng return to Youzhou, Yang Peng walked in front of Han Bing, Han Bing snorted, turned around and left. But he didn't take a few steps before he came back. Coming to Yang Peng, Yang Peng looked at her puzzled. Han Bing suddenly raised his hand and slapped Yang Peng, snapping, a very crisp sound. "What are you doing?" Yang Peng shouted angrily.

Han Bing said coldly: "It's nothing, I'm happy." With that, he turned around and left. Yang Peng touched his hot cheeks, looked at Han Bing's beautiful back, and muttered with a smile: "It's really spicy!" Then he was very puzzled and said, "How did I offend her?" Yang Peng really couldn't figure it out, and in the end he could only blame the woman's heart. ……

Yang Peng returned to the Shangjing Residence and announced the order of the imperial court to Liu Kui: the imperial court revoked Liu Kui's post of staying in Beijing, and Yang Peng, the general of Yulinwei, took over, and Liu Kui returned to the capital on the same day to resume his life. Liu Kui was greatly relieved when he heard this order. "Lord Liu, the order of the imperial court is like this, please let Lord Liu leave quickly." Yang Peng said.

Liu Kui said with a look of embarrassment: "The imperial court ordered the officials not to disobey. However, bandits are rampant along the way, and I'm afraid it's not safe! Yang Peng said with a smile: "Lord Liu don't worry, I will send a team of soldiers and horses to send your lord out of Yanyun." Liu Kui was still a little hesitant, because during this period of time, he had always thought that the entire Yanyun official army had been beaten by bandits and shrunk in the city and did not dare to go out of the city, in his thoughts, except for the city, the entire Yanyun was a terrible place where bandits were raging, just like a wild jungle step by step, he didn't think that a single soldier and horse could send him out safely.

Yang Peng saw his worries, so he said, "If the adults are not at ease with the land route, take the water route." Nowadays, the waterways are relatively safe. Yang Peng's words hit Liu Kui's heart, and Liu Kui hurriedly said: "That's it." Then he pleaded: "But you still have to ask your lord to send an escort!" Yang Peng nodded, "It should be so." Turning his head, he called, "Luan Tingyu." ”

Zhang Yan, who was wearing a helmet and armor, stepped forward to make a promise. "I'll give you 5,000 soldiers and horses, and you escort Lord Liu to the mouth of the sea, and you must ensure Lord Liu's safety." "Order." Yang Peng hugged his fist at Liu Kui and said, "Lord Liu, it's easy to go." I still have to deal with official business, so I won't send it to Lord Liu. "Lord Yang doesn't have to be polite." Liu Kui hugged his fists, and then left in a hurry, and Zhang Yan followed.

Yang Peng smiled and said to Zhan Jinguo: "Send a team of cavalry, disguised as the Liao army, to scare and scare them." Zhan Jinguo smiled and clenched his fists in promise, and left immediately. Later that day, Liu Kui and his cronies hurriedly left Beijing on a five-building ship, protected by a 5,000-strong army led by Zhang Yan. Unexpectedly, in the evening of the same day, the Liao army suddenly appeared on the high ground on the north coast. Because it was late, I couldn't see it really, but I felt that the Liao army was everywhere in the mountains, and the wolf-like cry unique to the Liao army filled the heaven and earth. Liu Kui and the others were so frightened that they all shrunk in the cabin and trembled, begging God and worshipping Buddha vigorously, and all the gods and Buddhas in the sky were invited out by them.

Fortunately, the Liao army did not attack, and went north after tossing in the middle of the night, maybe because he felt that he had no chance, or for some other reason. Liu Kui and the others' tense nerves relaxed a little, and they only hoped that the big ship would drive to the sea as soon as possible, and as long as it reached the sea, it would be safe. ……

More than half a month later, Zhang Yan returned to Beijing to resume his life. When he talked about the embarrassment of Liu Kui and others, everyone laughed. Yang Peng smiled: "Okay, the plague god has finally sent it away." Speaking of which, Liu Kui also helped us a lot during this period. Duan Zhixian grinned and said, "That's!" If it weren't for that, there wouldn't have been such a good chance to get rid of those prefects sent by the imperial court! ”

Everyone laughed. Yang Peng advised: "Duan Zhixian, don't say this in the future." We didn't kill the prefects, we were the hands of bandits. Duan Zhixian smiled and nodded, "Understood." When they saw him like this, they couldn't help laughing. Qian Letian said to Chen Xiao with a solemn expression: "General, don't forget that there is also a Xue Dongpan!" ”

The crowd fell silent. Chen Xiao asked, "What did Xue Dongpan do during my absence?" Duan Zhixian said angrily: "That guy hasn't stopped our investigation for a moment!" It's so stinky and hard! Then he sighed again: "But this guy is really a good official!" We have never seen such an incorruptible official! If you want to get rid of him, I don't approve of it! It would be great if he could join us! ”

Yang Peng looked at Qian Letian. Qian Letian said: "What General Duan said is the truth. However, during this time, Xue Dongpan's investigation was far less than before, because the disagreement with Liu Kui involved too much of his energy. Liu Kui rampantly extorted the common people, Xue Dongpan often argued with him, the two often quarreled in the lobby of this left-behind mansion, and the lower officials heard Liu Kui say fiercely more than once that he wanted to kill Xue Dongpan. ”

Yang Peng pondered for a moment, "How much do you think he has mastered of us?" Qian Letian said: "He should have mastered the policies we have implemented in the civilian and military sectors. However, his subordinates felt that he was very conflicted about these things. On the one hand, he felt that our practices violated the rules of the imperial court and suspected that we had bad intentions, but on the other hand, he had to admit that these practices were of great benefit to the people. He is a good official, a good official who cares about the suffering of the people, so his subordinates estimate that he must be very hesitant to report these things or not. ”

Yang Peng frowned and said, "We can't let him dominate our destiny......" Everyone thought that Yang Peng was going to kill Xue Dongpan. Duan Zhixian sighed, "Whatever the eldest brother did, the family approved yesterday." But this is not going to be done yesterday! Let's do it and let it be done! ”

Yang Peng smiled: "Duan Zhixian, you misunderstood, I didn't mean to kill him." He is a rare good official, although getting rid of him is the easiest and most effective solution, but I can't do it! Duan Zhixian laughed, "Yesterday, I knew that the eldest brother would not harm him!" Yang Peng teased: "Monk, you seem to like him a lot!" ”

"That is, there are too few good officials like this!" Yang Peng nodded thoughtfully. Zhang Yan frowned and said, "If you don't get rid of him, isn't it too dangerous?" Yang Peng pondered: "We can use another method." He glanced at Qian Lotian and said with a smile: "Didn't you say that Xue Dongpan and Liu Kui had a very bad quarrel?" Qian Lotian smiled and hugged his fists and said, "Exactly." The subordinates understood what the general meant. Yang Peng glanced at him, "You are responsible for this matter." "Yes."

Yang Peng's brothers didn't quite understand what Yang Peng was going to do, but everyone didn't care much about this kind of thing. Yang Peng returned to the top and sat down, "Okay, let's get down to business." Jin Guo, you tell me about the situation of the army. ”

Zhan Jinguo hugged his fists and promised, and said: "Now the size of the army is still as much as when the eldest brother left, 220,000 horses, and there is no increase or decrease. However, after almost half a year of training, the combat power is no longer what it used to be, and it is extremely loyal to the Huaxia clan and the eldest brother. I dare to say that as long as the eldest brother gives an order, these soldiers are willing to go to the soup to step on the fire! ”

Yang Peng nodded with satisfaction, "Okay, we finally have the capital to dominate the world!" The crowd couldn't help but smile. Yang Peng pondered: "I want to further expand the army, what do you think?" "Good!" Duan Zhixian said loudly without thinking about it.

Qian Letian objected: "My subordinates think it's impossible to ......" Duan Zhixian glared and shouted: "You, a scholar, are you against yesterday's family!" Qian Letian hurriedly said: "Don't misunderstand, general, how dare the lower officials go against the general?" The reason why the lower officials opposed it was based on the actual situation. "Then he said to Yang Peng;" The general's subordinates can understand that he wants to expand the army, but the scale of the army that this Yanyun Eight Prefectures can carry is limited. ”

"The entire Yanyun Eight Prefectures only have a population of more than one million, and now there are 220,000 troops, which is already a lot. If the army is expanded again, it will be impossible to withstand it with Yanyun Bazhou. Of course, there is no problem with today's money and grain to carry 300,000 or even 400,000 troops. However, if most of the young and middle-aged people joined the army, there would be no one to farm, no one to engage in handicrafts, no one to do as laborers, and the whole society would be difficult to develop, and it would slowly decline. This is an act of killing chickens and taking eggs, and I hope the general will know it. ”

Yang Peng showed a thoughtful look and did not speak. "You are very good and very correct. However, I judge that it will not be long before we face a direct threat from the Liao State, so we cannot discuss this matter as normal. If you don't have enough troops, you can't protect yourself, and no matter how good Yanyun Bazhou is, it's just a wedding dress for others. So I decided to expand the army. ”

Qian Letian frowned and clenched his fists and said: "Since the general has decided, his subordinates will do their best to assist the general!" Yang Peng stood up, walked up to Qian Letian, and patted him on the shoulder, "This internal matter will be handed over to you!" Qian Letian's eyes showed a resolute look, "Although the general can rest assured, his subordinates will do their best to die!" Yang Peng patted him on the shoulder appreciatively, turned his head to Zhang Yan and said, "You are responsible for the recruitment work." "Yes."

Later that day, Yang Peng came to the ordnance field that Yang Zhen was in charge of. Yang Zhen was formerly the deputy envoy of the Tokyo First Battle Bureau. When Huyan attacked Black Wind Mountain, he was sent to help. After the defeat of Huyan Bixian, Yang Zhen was captured and had to defect to Heifeng Mountain. Later, he learned that Huyan Bixian had surrendered to Yang Peng, so he quietly left Heifeng Mountain with his family and came to Shangjing. became a member of the Shangjing Left-behind Mansion. However, at this time, Yang Peng was still confined to Tokyo. Not long ago, Yang Peng returned to Beijing and learned the whole story from Huyan Bixian and Chen Jie, so he promoted Yang Zhen to be the person in charge of the ordnance field. From then on, Chen Jie could finally concentrate on managing his army.

When Yang Peng and his party came to the armory, the armory was in full swing. In a large area on the left, thousands of blacksmith furnaces were burning, the flames were red in half of the armory, thousands of blacksmiths were sweating and wielding hammers, and the sound of ping-pong was endless.

In a bamboo shed not far away, there are piles of semi-finished products such as gun heads and knife blades, as well as a large number of plate armor steel plates waiting to be assembled, and many workers are constantly transporting these semi-finished products to the two large houses without four walls side by side in front. Countless people were sitting in the big room, the big room on the left was adding handles and other things to the weapons, and the big room on the right was almost all women, and they were connecting the various parts of the armor with hemp rope.

Finished swords, guns, swords, and halberds are constantly transported out of the house on the left, while finished armor is shipped out of the house on the right. When the group came to the armor warehouse, they saw that several hills had been pushed up in the huge warehouse, and there was still a steady stream of armor transported in. Yang Zhen picked up a pair of armor and returned to Yang Peng, and said excitedly: "This is a new type of heavy armor built according to the general's suggestion, which is more than ten catties heavier than the original heavy armor, and its defense ability is very powerful." Most of the parts are replaced by wide steel plates to replace the small armor, the production is simpler, the original production of a set of heavy armor takes half a month, now four or five days can be. ”

Yang Peng took the armor from his hand, looked at it carefully, and couldn't help but let out a sigh of admiration. Yang Peng had made suggestions to Yang Zhen to make plate armor before, Yang Peng was not an expert in this area after all, so he said it very briefly, but he didn't expect Yang Zhen to turn the plate armor into reality so quickly, and it was very well-made and very beautiful.

This armor is much heavier than the heavier version of the foot armor, and a steel plate that protects the entire chest is the main part of the armor. This steel plate is engraved with traditional gluttonous patterns, and it is bent to fit the human chest, without polishing, giving people a very thick and strong feeling; Above the cuirass was the shoulder armor that protected the upper arms and shoulders, and this part was relatively complex, consisting of two large curved steel plates, and the lower part was a barrel sleeve made of many small armor pieces connected together, which was specially designed to protect the upper arm.

Other parts of the suit include a waist guard made of small armor plates, a detachable skirt armor made of a mixture of wide armor plates and small armor plates, foot and knee guards, arm guards, and a red tasseled helmet with steel visor with a thick neck guard on the lower edge of the helmet to completely protect the neck.

Yang Peng asked a soldier to try on this set of armor, and the whole person, except for a pair of eyeballs, was basically tightly wrapped. It is like an iron man, exuding a strong and iron-blooded momentum, which makes people's hearts palpitate.

Yang Peng was very satisfied, "Okay! Even better than I could have imagined! Yang Zhen listened to Yang Peng's appreciation and couldn't help grinning. Yang Peng asked, "How many sets of such armor are there now?" "Back to the general, because I didn't get the general's order, I only tried to produce more than 100 sets." "I am very satisfied with this new type of armor. From today, the production of the old heavy armor will be stopped, and the new armor will be produced in its entirety. "Yes."

The crowd came out of the armor storehouse and entered the nearby armory storehouse. Yang Zhen picked up a huge war knife and came to Yang Peng, "General, this is the Mo knife of the Tang Dynasty, but the subordinates have made improvements!" Yang Peng took the big knife and looked at it, exclaiming, "This is the legendary Mo knife?!" "Yang Peng's heavily armored swordsmen, although they are sometimes called the Mo Dao Army by the good deeds, are actually not like that, they are just using the improved Pu Dao, which is not the same thing as the Mo Dao at all.

The Mo knife in Yang Peng's hand is the weapon of the legendary invincible Tang Mo Sword Army. The Mo knife is ** feet long, heavy in the hand, three-pointed and two-edged, wide in front and narrow in the back, shining with cold light, exuding a bloodthirsty momentum. In the past, Chen Xiao was very skeptical of the legendary description of Modao's 'one knife goes down, everyone is broken', but now that he sees the real thing in his hand, Yang Peng can't help but feel that Modao really has the terrifying power of frightening ghosts and crying gods.

"Our hoplites, in the future, will use this weapon!" Yang Peng said. He handed the knife back to a worker next to him, who put it back in its place. Yang Peng asked, "This kind of weapon should be very expensive, right?" Yang Peng replied: "Building a Mo knife can almost make five Pu knives, but compared to the power it has, this is obviously worth it!" ”

Yang Peng nodded. The group left the armory and made their way to the second area of the workshop, which was as large and as many craftsmen as the first, where crossbows and arrows were used.

After looking at the two areas, everyone came to the third area of the workshop, which is a place to make heavy weapons, the most eye-catching of which is the huge three-bow bed crossbow, in addition to the fire tank and a swarm of fire bee carts. The former is the ancient flamethrower, and modern people may not be able to imagine that the fierce fire oil tank uses crude oil, not tung oil as people think; On the other hand, a swarm of firebees is a weapon similar to rocket artillery, in which the arrows are tied to powder kegs and fly out to kill and injure enemies by the propulsion of gunpowder, and the range is very long. Thousands of these arrows roared out together, and the scene was really like a swarm of bees dancing all over the world, so it was called a swarm of fire bee carts, which was also one of the most lethal weapons of this era.

Yang Peng spent a whole day in the armory yard, giving instructions on the production ratio of various equipment, and only returned to the Liushu Mansion after dark. Zhan Jinguo hurriedly came to Yang Peng, hugged his fists and said, "Big brother." Yang Peng smiled, "Jin Guo, is there something wrong?" Zhan Jin Guodao: "The fine work sent to Shunzhou is back." "Oh?" "Now it is certain that the Liao army in front of us is only about 1120,000 people!" Zhan Jin Guo said excitedly.

Yang Peng showed a thoughtful look, "I remember that when I left Shangjing, the Liao army had expanded to more than 200,000, why did their forces not increase but surrender after such a long period of time?" "The younger brother judged that half of the Liao army should have rushed to the Liaodong Road for reinforcements." Yang Peng nodded, "It should be so." "Big brother, now is a great time! Our army has 220,000 without adding new soldiers, has been trained for a long time, has sufficient food and grass, and is well-equipped, it is a good time to completely defeat the Liao army and recover all the sixteen states of Yanyun! Zhan Jinguo's eyes lit up and he was very excited.

Yang Peng looked thoughtful and did not speak. Zhan Jinguo finally noticed that the eldest brother was a little hesitant, and asked puzzledly, "The eldest brother seems to have some scruples?" Yang Peng looked at the northern sky and muttered, "I don't know the result of the battle of Liaodong yet!" "Does it matter?"

Yang Peng lowered his head and thought: "If the Western Xia army wins, we can't make a move. This will only help the Tangut people. Once the Liao State is destroyed, the troops of the Western Xia people will inevitably point at us. With our current strength, I'm afraid it will be difficult to resist the full attack of the Tanguts! ”

Zhan Jinguo felt that what Yang Peng said made sense, and couldn't help but nodded, "Then, what should we do?" Yang Peng pondered: "I think I should meet with Her Royal Highness the Empress Dowager Xiao of the Liao State and have a good talk." Zhan Jinguo shook his head and said: "I'm afraid it's impossible, they regard us as enemies of life and death, how can they talk to us?" ”

Yang Peng said: "Give it a try, that Empress Dowager Xiao of the Liao State is a smart person, and she shouldn't be rash." Zhan Jin State, you choose a reliable officer who understands Khitan language, and go to meet the Empress Dowager Xiao of the Liao State. I will write you a letter and bring it to her. Zhan Jinguo hugged his fists and promised.

Yang Peng wrote the letter, then sealed it and handed it to Zhan Jinguo. At this moment, a guard rushed in, clenched his fists and said, "General Qiqi, the envoy of Western Xia asks to see you." ”

Chen Xiao and Lin Chong both showed expressions of surprise.

Three Western Xia envoys walked in. Chen Xiao was quite surprised when he saw them, who are these three people? . "General, we'll meet again." Li Jiqian said. Yang Peng smiled, "I didn't expect it to be three." Are the three of you going back to China? ”

Li Jiqian nodded, "I came here to talk to the general." Yang Peng stretched out his hand, "Please take a seat." The three of them walked over to the three chairs on the left and sat down. Yang Peng walked to the right and sat down, and Zhan Jinguo stood beside Chen Yangpeng with his sword and watched them. Li Jiqian said: "I think it would be more appropriate to discuss a major event like the attack on Liao. ”

Yang Peng smiled and glanced at the envoy, "Presumably you have already negotiated this matter with the imperial court, so I don't need to ask." Li Jiqian said: "It has indeed been negotiated, and the Song court promised to launch an attack on the Jingdao of Liaoxi within a year." "But I think they're too busy to take care of themselves right now, and I'm afraid it's going to be difficult to attack as promised." Even if an attack is launched, the weak combat power of the Song army will not be able to make much difference. Yang Peng was noncommittal.

Li Jiqian looked at Yang Peng, "I still say the same thing, the general is a hero, why bother to work for such a cowardly and incompetent court?" In the words of your Han people, isn't this a pearl secretly cast? If I were a general, I would abandon the darkness and turn to the light! As long as the general nods, he can immediately become the king of the Southern Courtyard of my Western Xia Kingdom, and his wealth is unimaginable! ”

Yang Peng smiled: "I remember that I have already answered this question. Li Jiqian snorted coldly: "Yang Peng, don't be ignorant!" Li Jiqian glared at the envoy unhappily, and the envoy shrank his neck. Li Jiqian turned his head to Yang Peng and said, "The current situation is different from the previous situation. The general may not know that our Western Xia army has defeated the main force of the Liao army, and completely annihilated the Liao rebel general Gao Yongchang's department, and now the entire Liao Dong Province is under the territory of my Western Xia Kingdom. The fall of the Liao State was only in an instant. ”

Yang Peng's expression did not move, and Lin Chong on the side showed a very shocked expression. Yang Peng smiled, "Then congratulations to you." Li Jiqian said proudly: "So now is your last chance." If you miss this opportunity, I'm afraid what awaits you will be a catastrophe! Yang Peng said lightly: "I still say the same as before." However, if the imperial court orders me to attack the Liao Kingdom, I will definitely obey the order! ”

After all, what happens next, let's see how it will be broken down next time.