Northwest Yanzhou.
Since Yang Zongbao was transferred to Waqiao Pass to defend against the Liao people, Zhong Shiheng was appointed as the commander of the military capital of Yanyan.
As a general of the Song Dynasty, the Zhong family was extremely famous in later generations, starting from Zhong Shiheng.
A few years ago, he used a divisive trick to kill the Yeli Yuqi brothers and cut off Yuan Hao's right-hand man, thus becoming famous...
It was already March.
Zhong Shiheng was at home, frowning at the official document sent by the Privy Council.
Below him sat his three sons.
Seeing that his father had read the official document for a long time without saying anything, Zhongerlang couldn't help but said anxiously:
"Dad, did the imperial court appoint you as the commander-in-chief of the Third Route Army?"
Zhong Shiheng glanced at him, shook his head and sighed:
"No, the imperial court ordered Zhongjing Bo Cao Bin to be the commander of the military capital of Yanyan, and Liang Ji, the chamberlain's escort, to be the supervisor of the army, under the control of Hedong Army Tong Guan."
Hearing this, Zhong Erlang couldn't help but said angrily:
"What makes Cao Bin? In terms of qualifications, he should be the commander-in-chief of the Yanyan Army."
Dalang Zhong shook his head and said:
"Cao Bin still has some abilities. Yuan Hao was plotted to death by him, defeated Tie Yaozi, defeated the King of Xiangyang, and defeated the female general of the Yang family in a military exercise."
Tanejiro said disdainfully:
"Has he ever fought a serious war? The confrontation between the two armies requires real skills. It cannot be done by training civilians for a few months to cheat and treacherously."
"This is an army of 50,000 to 60,000 people. I've long heard that he doesn't practice martial arts, has little military education, and is not even as old as me. What ability can he have?"
Tanesaburo smiled and said: "When it comes to cheating and treachery, second brother, you are the best at it..."
Zhong Shiheng waved his hand and said:
"Okay, stop arguing. Cao Bin is also a general, even if he is a dandy, he won't be a drag on us."
"I'm worried about Tong Guan and Liang Ji. Most of the people in the palace are difficult to deal with."
Dalang Zhong asked: "Father, who is this Liang Ji?"
Zhong Shiheng said: "He was originally the chief chamberlain of Princess Zhaoyang's residence. Not long ago, he was promoted to the 'housekeeper's class' and was released from the prison of Yanyan Army."
Dalang Zhong nodded and added:
"There is also the transportation department. These days, the food distributed to us is old food, and the portion is much smaller. Logically speaking, it shouldn't be targeted at our family, right?"
Zhong Shiheng shook his head and smiled bitterly: "It should be for Cao Bin. I heard that he and Cai Jing don't get along."
Zhong Erlang frowned and said:
"Is this battle still possible?"
"It's just that Cao Bin can't help, he's going to hurt us too."
Tanesaburo rolled his eyes and said:
"Second brother also said to others that you offended Tong Guan and said he was not a man. In the past few years, the chamberlains who came out of the palace have become very hostile to our family."
After saying that, he himself was dumbfounded. Looking around, Cao Bin and his family had offended everyone who could be offended.
Are you going to fight in Xixia, or are you going to die?
There may be more trouble from the Song Dynasty than from Xixia.
At this moment, a soldier came to report:
"General, Uncle Zhongjing sent someone to report that the army has entered Yanzhou and will arrive this evening."
"You need adults to prepare campsites and meals."
Zhong Shiheng waved his hand and said: "I understand, please step back first."
With that said, he stood up and said to his three sons: "Quickly go and order five hundred soldiers, and follow my father to meet Uncle Zhongjing."
Zhong Er was stunned for a moment and said in shock:
"Father, that's not the case. Why don't you give him a blow and make him listen to us?"
"Anyway, he only brought more than 5,000 civilians, and our Yanyan army is the main force."
Zhong Shiheng glared at him and said:
"Stop talking nonsense. He is a general appointed by the imperial court. Do you want to be impeached?"
Then he put on his official uniform, jumped on his horse, took his three sons to join the soldiers, and went straight to where Cao Bin was coming from.
By the time they arrived at Kulichuan, it was almost noon.
Cao Bin and his party were camping on the river bank. Zhong Er frowned and said:
"No wonder they traveled for more than a month before arriving in Yanzhou, and then they camped to rest at noon?"
Zhong Shiheng waved his hand and said, "That's just right. Let's take a look at his methods."
As he said that, he had already hit the horse and ran towards a high slope.
Zhong Da came behind Zhong Shiheng, looked at Cao Bin's camp from a distance, and exclaimed: "What a neat camp."
Zhong Er also looked over, and saw that the camp was layered on top of each other, with no lack of arrow towers or towers. They echoed from front to back, from far to near, like a huge battle formation.
In just a moment, the camp had already taken shape visibly.
He couldn't help but be stunned: "Did they move the general prison here? How come it was built so fast?"
Zhong Shiheng nodded and said: "It seems that Cao Bin is really capable. We are worried."
Zhong Erlang curled his lips and said: "I have the ability, but it's just setting up camp."
At this moment, a group of soldiers came on horseback and shouted:
"Who are you waiting for, and why are you spying on our army camp?"
Zhong Shiheng cupped his hands and said, "Zhong Shiheng, under the jurisdiction of Kuo Yanqian, is here to greet Uncle Zhongjing!"
The leading colonel quickly returned the salute and said, "I didn't expect General Zhong to be so polite. Please follow me into the camp."
In a short while, the Zhong family and his son had already entered the camp with the soldiers patrolling the camp.
At this time, they truly realized the power of the soldiers who built the camp.
There were more than two thousand soldiers, who were more skilled than professional craftsmen. They built the fortress and camp as if they were flowing like clouds and water, and almost no manpower was wasted.
Watching them set up camp seemed to become a kind of enjoyment.
Dalang Zhong couldn't help but ask:
"General, you are so good at setting up camps. How did Uncle Zhongjing train you?"
He remembered that these soldiers had only trained for four or five months, but they were so experienced in setting up camp?
The primary school teacher laughed:
"I dare not call myself a general...Of course they are skilled, because that is their ability to make a living."
"Do you know about the Bianjing Construction Camp? They build manors while training to earn money to support themselves."
As he spoke, he laughed and said:
"Do any of the generals need to build a manor? If so, we will give you a 20% discount."
"If you have other businesses, you can introduce them to us..."
The father and son of the Zhong family were immediately speechless and looked at each other. Did they bring their business to the frontier?
Zhong Er couldn't help but laugh, gave a thumbs up and said: "Uncle Zhong Jing is really a fantastic and unconstrained idea!"
The primary school principal looked at him with disdain and said:
"Don't think I don't know what you're thinking."
"We are unpaid soldiers, what can we do?"
"Uncle Cao Bin can only use this method to make us self-sufficient."
Zhong Er looked at the fierce and ruddy-faced soldiers around him, his laughter suddenly stopped and he became thoughtful.
At this time, the principal said: "We're here. Uncle Cao and the supervisor are at the commander's tent. I'll go and make a report."
"The supervisor is here too?"
Dalang Zhong's expression changed, he patted his thigh and said angrily:
"It's broken. I forgot to bring a gift. What should I do?"
"If you come empty-handed, won't the supervisors hold grudges?"
Zhong Erque said:
"Brother, we don't have to worry about the debt anyway. Even if you give us gifts, those eunuchs won't let us go. Why do we need to do it multiple times?"
