It's late autumn, and the weather is solemn.

Wisps of sunlight shine on the long-standing walls of Lai'an City, staining mottled traces of vicissitudes.

The crowd of people entering and exiting the city gate was endless, and the group of officials standing by the road seemed quite eye-catching, attracting a curious gaze.

Zheng Sichong, the captain of the north gate guarding the city, came to the side of the Qing civil official, and said respectfully: "Why is Master Sima here in person today?" ”

Sima Huang Xianfeng of the Governor's Mansion looked at the official road in the north, and said lightly: "This official came to pick up people on the order of the Metropolitan Governor, what advice does Captain Zheng have?" ”

"Don't dare, don't dare." Zheng Sichong became more and more humble, and when he heard the other party's words, Feng didn't dare to ask again, and instead said: "The last general will let people go and get chairs and tea, and ask Lord Sima to sit and wait." ”

Huang Xianfeng shook his head and said, "No need." ”

Seeing this, Zheng Sichong retreated with interest.

After a while, several knights appeared in the distance, riding their horses slowly.

Zheng Sichong, who was standing next to him, found that Huang Xianfeng's eyes immediately lit up, and at the same time subconsciously sorted out his official uniform, he couldn't help but be more curious.

This Huang Sima is a close confidant of the Governor of Xiao, and his status in the Governor's Mansion is not low, who is worthy of him to be so solemn, could it be that he is a member of the imperial court?

No, if it was a court official, how could he come from the north?

At this moment, the team of knights approached, Huang Xianfeng stepped forward quickly, and said in a voice that was neither high nor low: "Captain Lu has made meritorious deeds again, and this official has come to greet him on the order of the Grand Governor!" ”

Lu Duwei?

Zheng Sichong looked up, and saw that the young knight led by him was handsome and condensed, and suddenly realized.

It turned out to be Lu Shen, the captain of the Ruishi Battalion, Zheng Sichong naturally knew the name of this upstart in the army, and he had seen him from afar in the past, and then thought of the word "meritorious" in Huang Xianfeng's mouth, he suddenly remembered a major event.

Recently, the people in the north have been in turmoil, and it is said that a group of bandits in Baotai Mountain actually defeated 20,000 Yan troops, which can be called a shock to the world, could it be that this matter is Lu Shen's handiwork?

As soon as he thought of this, Zheng Sichong couldn't care about being abrupt, and hurriedly stepped forward with a group of soldiers, and saluted respectfully: "Zheng Sichong, the last general of the North Gate, has seen Lu Duwei!" ”

Lu Shen had just gotten off the horse, his eyes narrowed slightly when he heard this, he looked at the young captain a few times, and said with a smile: "Captain Zheng doesn't need to be polite. ”

Huang Xianfeng looked at Zheng Sichong with a slightly strange gaze, I don't know what kind of fun this guy suddenly came out of, but it was inconvenient to scold him on this occasion, so he said to Lu Shen: "Captain Lu, the Metropolitan Governor is waiting for you in the mansion." ”

Lu Shen nodded, and led the horse and Huang Xianfeng into the city, while Li Chengen and others followed.

Huang Xianfeng looked behind him, and immediately asked curiously, "Why don't you see Senior Wei Chi?" ”

Lu Shen said: "After returning to Huaizhou, Senior Wei Chi said that he was going to do a private matter and was going to leave for a while, and he would come directly to the Governor of Dadu later." ”

Huang Xianfeng bowed slightly, didn't ask any more, and praised sincerely: "The battle commanded by Brother Lu in the north is very amazing, and after listening to the details of the Metropolitan Governor, only the four words of the five-body throw can describe the mood at that time. In more than 20 days, the more than 20,000 people of the Yanjing coalition army were like marionettes of the Lu brothers, which was really amazing. ”

"Brother Huang praised, this battle is mainly based on local conditions and situation, plus the gathering of masters of the Seven Star Gang can achieve the final victory."

Lu Shen smiled, and then asked, "How has the situation at home been in the past six months?" ”

When Huang Xianfeng heard his words, he felt more ironed in his heart, so he replied: "Now the three armies of Zhenbei, Lai'an, and Feiyun are stationed in the Lai'an defense line, and the three armies of Pingshan, Taixing, and Guangling are preparing for war in the rear. On the west side of Shuangfeng Mountain, the Jianghua and Xunyang armies are waiting for the day, and they can march north at any time. Our Huaizhou Ninth Army, except for the Panlong Army guarding the pass, the rest of the Eighth Army is strong, and only needs to wait for the Metropolitan Governor to give an order to raise the flag for the Northern Expedition. ”

Lu Shen knew in his heart that the other party should follow Xiao Wangzhi's instructions and inform himself of the recent situation of the Huaizhou army, so that he could have a very clear understanding of the situation in Huaizhou.

Huang Xianfeng continued: "In the past six months, Your Majesty and the Right Prime Minister have overcome all difficulties and sent a large amount of grain, grass and ordnance to Huaizhou and Jingzhou, which is enough to support us to fight a medium-sized battle. ”

Lu Shen remembered the promise made to him by the Son of Heaven and Xue Nanting when he was in the capital, and couldn't help but be touched: "In this way, the battle of the Northern Expedition is imperative. ”

Huang Xianfeng bowed his head and said: "Yes, just wait for Captain Lu to come back now, the Metropolitan Governor needs to refer to your opinion." ”

Lu Shen was not overly humble, he crossed the territory of Beiyan twice, went to Heluocheng to force Chen Jingtang to death, and took thousands of green forests and grasses to defeat more than 20,000 Yanjing coalition troops. If you count the several battles he experienced throughout the whole process last year, there are very few people in the Huaizhou army who are more familiar with the Northern Yan court, army and terrain than him, except for Xiao Wangzhi himself.

After about a stick of incense, Lu Shen strode into the governor's mansion, while Li Chengen and others waited in the front yard.

In the study room of the back house, Xiao Wangzhi looked Lu Shen up and down, with a look of approval on his face: "Okay, I went to the north, and I became more and more shrewd and capable, and I already have the style of a general." ”

Lu Shen raised his eyes to look at the nearly fifty-year-old governor of Huaizhou, and found that the other party had aged a lot after half a year, but the pair of tiger eyes were shining, as if they had the potential to swallow mountains and rivers.

He felt something, stepped forward and bowed meticulously, and his tone was earnest: "Thank you Uncle Xiao for your support and care." ”

"The key is to fight for yourself."

Xiao Wangzhi helped him up and said with a smile: "Sit." ”

The two sat down, and the soldiers served tea and retreated.

Xiao Wangzhi said with emotion: "The journey is hard to trek through mountains and rivers, I should have given you a few days off and let you go back to recuperate for a while, but the situation in the frontier is on the line, and I have to ask you to insist on it anymore." ”

Lu Shen said calmly: "Uncle Xiao, this journey depends on the proper arrangement of the Warp Weaving Division, in fact, it is not very hard, I have not encountered any trouble, I feel that all aspects of the state are fine." Regarding the Northern Expedition, I just don't know where Uncle Xiao and Governor Li plan to start? ”

Xiao Wangzhi glanced at him meaningfully, and said indifferently: "In the original plan, we were going to march on Moyang Road first, creating the illusion of attacking the west like last year, and then let you take the Seven Star Army to attack the north of Dongyang Road, and at the critical moment, the rapid march was diagonally behind Yongquan Pass, and at the same time, the main force of the Huaizhou Army attacked Yongquan Pass with all its might." As long as Yongquan Pass is taken, Qingtian City will be at your fingertips. ”

Lu Shen listened calmly.

Xiao Wangzhi continued: "Later, I received an urgent report from you, since the Seven Star Army cannot go out of the mountain for the time being, then we will revise the plan and start the Northern Expedition with a virtual and real strategy. Generally speaking, Qingtian City and Yongquan Pass on Dongyang Road in Pseudo-Yan, Yongqiu, Xinchang and Shiquan on Moyang Road are all within the scope of our strategy. ”

The specific locations of these place names that came to Lu Shen's mind were all strategic points in the territory of Beiyan, and taking any of them could cause a considerable blow to Beiyan.

He pondered for a moment and said slowly: "The battle line of Moyang Road is too long, it is best to focus on Qingtian City and Yongquan Pass. However, the pseudo-Yan must also understand this, they chose to negotiate peace with the Seven Star Army, because they didn't want to distract themselves, and the defenses in these two places must be very strong. ”

Xiao Wangzhi suddenly smiled softly, picked up a huge envelope from the big case, handed it to Lu Shen and said, "You take a look at this first." ”

Lu Shen took it and opened it, first took out a piece of paper from it, and knew that it was a map when he started it.

He spread out the map and looked at it for a few moments before his expression changed slightly.

"This ...... This is a topographic map of Dongyang Road in Pseudo-Yan? ”

"That's right, this map is very well drawn and a lot of work has been put into it."

Lu Shen suppressed the surprise in his heart, looked at the map carefully, and muttered, "Uncle Xiao, did you rebel against the Pseudo-Yan Emperor?" ”

Xiao Wangzhi smiled dumbly, shook his head and said, "This is your credit." ”

Lu Shen gradually calmed down, this topographic map must have been sent by the high-level within the Yan Kingdom, and the status of this internal should must be quite high, otherwise he would not have the strength to draw such a fine map.

He looked up at Xiao Wangzhi and asked tentatively, "Master Wang?" ”

Xiao Wangzhi did not pretend to be mysterious, and directly revealed the mystery: "This is a gift from Zhai Lin Wang's family." ”

Zhai Lin Wang's ......

The name Wang Jun immediately appeared in Lu Shen's heart, and then he shook his head again, Wang Jun was only a partial disciple of the side sect, even his father Wang Shao did not have such great influence in the Zhai Lin Wang clan.

Xiao Wangzhi understood his mood very well at the moment, because he was also quite shocked when he received this gift before, so he smiled: "Wang An, the head of the Zhai Lin Wang family, is now the pseudo-prime minister of Yan, I can probably guess the reason why he did this. A leafy family like Zhai Lin Wang's family is already good at meeting the source left and right, and will not always be a loyal and filial son of the pseudo-Yan or even the Jing Dynasty. Last year, our border army won a big victory, and this year you have made quite a contribution in the north, Wang An is obviously aware that the overall situation of the world is changing. Therefore, he threw stones to ask for directions this time in preparation for the future turn. ”

Lu Shen also said with a smile: "These family gate lords really think that they have the ability to manipulate the chess game. ”

"At least in the current situation, Zhai Lin Wang's choice is very important."

Xiao Wangzhi gently revised his concept, and then said: "But this gift is not critical enough, compared to the entire territory of Dongyang Road, what we need most now is the enemy's troop deployment on the border, if we can counter one or two key generals, it will definitely play a role in getting twice the result with half the effort, which is why I hurriedly called you back." ”

Lu Shen was so astute, when he understood the deep meaning of his words, he raised his eyes to look at the other party and asked curiously, "Uncle Xiao, what price does the Wang family want us to pay?" ”

For some reason, Xiao Wangzhi suddenly hesitated, and said after a while: "I have asked Huang Xianfeng to sort out the military information, and he will send it to your residence." After you go back, you should first study these materials and try to make a complete Northern Expedition strategy as soon as possible. There are some things that I can't say in a convenient way, and your father will tell you. ”

"My dad is here?"

Lu Shen looked surprised.

Xiao Wangzhi bowed his head and said, "He came ten days ago, and he was waiting for you at your residence." ”

Lu Shen got up to say goodbye, of course he was curious about Xiao Wangzhi's unfinished words, but the other party had already made it clear, so he had to go back and toss the old man.

At the same time, in the courtyard in the north of the city, Lu Tong was pacing back and forth in the main hall, his face full of tangled colors.

"Master, the young master has entered the Governor's Mansion, and it is estimated that he will be back in a while."

Steward Lu Shan approached with a happy face.

"yes, got it."

Lu Tong responded, and immediately sighed melancholy, with a bit of unknown pride.

How should my son be so good?

(End of chapter)