At the end of August, the Western Expeditionary Army reserved 100,000 troops to be stationed in Beiliang, with Shi Tao and Liu Tong temporarily responsible for guarding the town, and the remaining 300,000 troops returned to the east, preparing to enter the pass from Fengming Pass.

Not surprisingly, the returning army was stopped outside the pass. The defenders on the wall were tense and hostile.

"What do you mean? We fought with the Hu people on the front line, and now that we have returned triumphantly, you don't open and close the door to greet us, but you actually stop us outside the pass, what is your intention? ”

Jiang Yuntian pointed at the guard on the wall and asked loudly.

Lu Zhi said: "General Jiang, don't misunderstand, I just didn't let the army enter the customs, but I didn't let you enter the customs, if the general can trust me, let the army retreat ten miles first, you ride into the pass alone, I will personally go out to greet you!" ”

Jiang Yuntian pointed to the 300,000 army behind him and reprimanded angrily: "Do you mean that these Paoze brothers who followed me to death can't even go home?" ”

Lu Definition said: "General, I didn't mean that, but Master Ma explained, now that the domestic politics are chaotic, and the number of troops in the Western Expedition is too large, it is best to stay in Beiliang to maintain good results and order, and after the situation is stable, His Majesty the Emperor will definitely summon the generals back to Beijing to discuss meritorious deeds!"

"Emperor? Which emperor? ”

"Naturally, it's the orthodox emperor, Liang Xuanzong Zhao Sui-"

"Fuck you!" Jiang Yuntian's anger finally broke out, and he immediately scolded:

"Now it is the first year of Tianyuan, under the whole world, only Emperor Jing Zhao Heng is the son of Liang Tian, Zhao Sui is the king of the country, how can He De be called orthodox again?"

He angrily pointed at the defenders on the wall again, and shouted loudly: "Brothers on the wall, listen, the knife in your hand is used to protect the family and defend the country, not to deal with the flesh and blood brothers.

If you don't want to be traitors, quickly lay down your weapons and open the Fengming Pass. If not, when our army breaks through, we will definitely ask you and others to fall to the ground! ”

Fengming Pass has no more than 50,000 defenders, while the 300,000 troops outside the pass are gearing up, and all of them are elite soldiers who have just returned from the battlefield!

The soldiers guarding the city, you look at me, I look at you, obviously swayed by Jiang Yuntian's words.

"Don't listen to this person's slander, Master Ma returned to Chang'an to maintain the orthodoxy of the Great Liang, and these people in front of him are the real rebels! Even if he had an army of 300,000? My Fengming Pass City has thick walls and the blessing of artillery, so I will definitely be able to keep them out! ”

Lu Zhi said, waving his big hand: "Push it up!" ”

The defenders pushed more than a dozen cannons up the city wall, and the muzzles of the cannons reached the army under the city.

"Jiang Yuntian, I have heard that you are brave and invincible, I don't know how to compare to artillery?" Lu Zhi has the support of artillery, and his attitude is also a little more domineering.

"General! Strategist! We are willing to lead the charge! ”

Yang Jinbao and Chen Hong stepped forward to ask for orders, "These cannons were stolen from us by Ma Wei, let's atone for our sins today!" ”

Song Che waved his hand slightly, "You know the power of artillery better than anyone else, these dozen cannons, coupled with the high wall of the gate, will cause a lot of losses to our army, and using bloodshed and sacrifice to attack the fortification will only outweigh the losses." ”

"Strategist, we are by no means greedy for life and afraid of death, we just want to be able to be ashamed and let out this evil breath in our hearts!" Yang Jinbao and Chen Hong repeatedly asked to play.

Song Che shook his head, pointed to the wall and said, "Look-"

Seeing Ma Guocheng beside Lu Definition, he suddenly pulled out his sword and shouted, "The thief will die!" Immediately, a sword pierced Lu Jie in the chest, kicked him off the wall, and then raised his bloody sword and shouted at the defenders:

"Brothers! The Western Expedition army wiped out Hu Nu in only half a year, how heroic were they? What is the reason why these brothers in the robes who have won glory for the country want to go home, but we stop them at the door?

Now that Lu has defined this thief as I have killed, I will have the final say in Fengming Pass, quickly open the gate and welcome the heroes of the country home! ”

"Good!"

"Good!"

"Good!"

True temperament will never perish!

The soldiers guarding the pass responded to the call and opened and closed the door to welcome the army.

Lu defined the purpose of rejecting the Western Expeditionary Army outside the pass was to buy time for Ma Wei so that he could capture more benefits in the Central Plains.

Now Beiliang has 100,000 border troops, Fengming and other passes do not need to send more troops to garrison, Song Che from Fengming Pass 50,000 defenders of 30,000 and then into the team, and then march to Xiliang City.

According to the information provided by Ma Wei and Pang Wei, Ma Wei did not stay in Xiliang City, but hoarded troops in Lanzhou Mansion and Fengxiang Mansion respectively.

Ma Wei was enlisting in the army all the way, and the strength of the army increased sharply to 300,000 in just two months, including about 150,000 miscellaneous soldiers and box troops, which were stationed in Lanzhou and Fengxiang respectively, in order to be able to contain the Western Expeditionary Army to attack Chang'an.

In the third year of Tianyuan, on the seventh day of the sixth month, the Western Expedition army drove straight into Qinfeng Road and occupied Lanzhou Mansion in less than a day.

The next day, in order to prevent the army from continuing to move south, Ma Wei blew up the Weishui embankment, causing a flood to the west of Qinfeng, and tens of thousands of casualties among the people......

"Oh my God, don't go down!"

Outside the city of Lanzhou, the victims knelt and looked up to the sky, crying and howling, the wind was roaring, and the rain was roaring, but unfortunately God could not hear it.

Song Che stood on the wall of Lanzhou, letting the wind and rain blow, the late autumn had not yet entered winter, but the cold had penetrated into the bone marrow.

"Boss, the carriage and horses are ready, you ...... Do you really want to go? Nangong Yue walked up to the city wall with an umbrella and informed.

Song Che hummed softly, turned around and walked down the city, "I've already left a message for Brother Jiang, so I don't need to say goodbye any more." ”

Nangong Yue followed silently behind her, hesitated for a long time before saying, "Why don't you ...... Wait two more days? The rain is so heavy that we have to walk a lot of mountain roads here, just in case, in case ......."

"If one in 10,000 things happen to us, then we should really consider ourselves unlucky."

Song Che didn't delay much, got off the city wall, got into the carriage, and set off to Fengxian County in the south in the rain.

There is a Jialing River in Fengxian County, which is the most important tributary of the Yangtze River, and the heavy rain is not stopping, and the river is turbulent and can speed up the boat, which is the main reason why he must travel during the rainy season.

It will take at least a month for the floods caused by the bursting of the Weishui levee to recede. For Song Che, staying here for an extra day is an ordeal.

The east of Qin Feng is guarded by the Xiliang army everywhere, and it will definitely not work to go back to the south of the Yangtze River by taking the Chang'an Canal, and the fastest route at the moment is to take the Yangtze River waterway.

Time flashed, the end of September.

After more than half a month of trials and hardships, Song Che and others finally arrived safely in Feng County, at this time, although the heavy rain was no longer pouring, the drizzle was still misty and indefinite.

Song Che bought a passenger boat at the ferry and began to move south along the Jialing River.

At the beginning of October, the rain finally stopped, and the sky was still gray, especially on the mountainous Lizhou Road, and the fog in the mountains and rivers could not dissipate all day.

The passenger ship roamed the canyon, and the captain at the helm kept his eyes wide open, always staring at the fog ahead, he was very experienced, and he could prevent all dangers.

"Bashan Chushui desolately...... It's a bleak place, so lost that you can't even see the way forward. Song Che stood at the bow of the boat and sighed softly.

The captain accosted: "You don't know about Song Daguan, right?" I don't deny that Bachuan used to be a bleak place, but now it's not what it used to be. ”

"Oh? How so? ”

"I heard that a Qing official came here last year, and he came from the capital! As soon as he came to us, he repaired bridges, paved roads and repaired embankments, anyway, he did all the good things that benefited the people, and those bullies who bullied our people were also caught by him! ”

When the prince talked about this "Qing official", his expression was not to mention how respectful.

"Boss." Nangong Yue walked up to Song Che's ear and spit out softly: "Lord Gao, he ...... So he moved left here. ”

Gao Chen?

Song Che frowned slightly, he was an old friend who hadn't been remembered for a long time.

Gao Chen is a loyal minister and an old-fashioned man, and now that Zhao Sui has been put back in Daliang, he should be happier than anyone else.

"Old man Huang, I'll stop in Bazhou for a while, I'm going to find an old friend for a cup of tea." Song Che said to the father.

The captain replied with a smile: "Okay, good, if you can remember an old friend in Bazhou, it must be a good friend." ”

It's a good friend, a good friend indeed.

suddenly

A flute sound came from the mist, a slender and melodious tune, echoing in the canyon, ethereal without a trace of worldliness.

"Murderous!"

Ning Yehong, Lin Yue, and all the female swordsmen rushed out with swords almost at the same time.

It is indeed surprising that there is such a beautiful song in this deserted place, but "Where does the murderous spirit come from?" ”

Ning Yehong frowned, stared at the outline of the ship that gradually became clear in the fog and said, "You are not from the Sect Division, of course you can't hear it, she must be a master, and she is of a first-class level." ”

Song Che raised his eyebrows, "Can you all hear it?" ”

They replied in unison, "Because we are all from the Faculty Division!" ”

At this moment, the whispering came to an abrupt end, and the ship in the fog revealed its true identity. It was also a passenger ship, but it was much more luxurious than the one Song Che and they were on, and there were five veiled white-clothed women standing at the bow of the boat, all of them graceful and graceful, among which the first woman was holding a jade flute, her world-weary gaze was as cold as ice, and there was a trace of murderous aura.

"They're all from the Workshop Division, too?" Song Che asked, pointing to the five women on the passenger boat opposite.

"Boss, you stand back, these people are not good-"

Before Nangong Yue's words fell, the five white-clothed women suddenly jumped out of the passenger boat, they stepped lightly on the river, drew their swords and rushed to Song Che on the bow of the boat.

The female swordsmen drew their swords to meet the enemy.

"Bang ......"

The woman in white jumped on the passenger ship and fought with the female swordsmen, there were only five of them, but they did not fall behind in the battle against more than 20 people, but gradually gained the upper hand.

A group of women fight, wonderful is wonderful, but no matter who is hurt, it will be distressing.

"Boom!"

A loud bang was deafening, causing a splash of water to come to an abrupt halt.

Song Che held the fire gourd high and shouted at the passenger ship opposite: "Lord Gao, if you treat guests like this, I can only use bombs to hit you back." ”