It was already considered hot in the northwest in early June. On the official road, one person was riding a horse and running wildly, with two horses behind him. It turned out that one person and three horses could travel 600 miles a day.
This man first arrived at the Zhenrong Army, asked people, then ran to Pingxia City, and then turned back to Tiandu Village.
"Brother Fu!"
When Wang Zhi saw this dusty young man, he gave him a big hug without any hesitation.
This person was Wang Fu who left Pingxia City for Langya County half a month ago.
He somewhat resisted Wang Zhi's embrace. He was really too dirty and couldn't resist the enthusiasm of Wang Erlang, so he took off after being hugged for a while, and reported: "Erlang, after discussion, the clan chief and the clan elders decided to just We will provide you with resource supplies for the five Border Roads, as well as Hedong Road, Jingxi Road, Lizhou Road and Chengdu Road. The supply of other boundaries depends on your effectiveness at the border."
"Well, good thing. Let's not talk about this anymore. Come, let's eat first."
Wang Zhi took him to the inner room to sit down, and started eating without asking about the details.
He had already guessed the outcome of Wang Fu's trip. It was impossible for the Wang family to give all the family's resources in the Song Dynasty to such a young boy who was not yet in the top of the list, but they couldn't deny it at all. After all, he was still the nominal head of the Wang family. The next clan leader.
It was originally expected that even the resource supply of a few roads near the border would be enough to carry out his plan. Now with the support of other Song merchants, the availability of this resource supply is no longer important.
When the trade routes are opened and everything in the plan is on track, the Wang family, hehe... can't even drive them away.
Wang Fu looked at Yue Fei and Wang Gui, who were at the same table. However, these two people did not ask him about the specific matters. They just nodded and said hello and continued to cook.
this……
Can't it be done?
Seeing that these three people were indifferent to the outcome of his trip, Wang Fu already had some speculations in his mind. He had no intention of eating, so he asked: "Erlang, how is the progress of the plan?"
Unexpectedly, Wang Erlang nodded and said: "It's going very well. Just wait until the four nails are pulled out in the next few days and the trade route will be open."
Wang Fu asked in confusion: "Four nails?"
Wang Erlang said while eating: "Well, Ganquan Fort, Taipingjian, Jichuan Village in Qinzhou, and Baijian Town in Fengzhou."
Wang Fu became even more confused when he heard this, "Why are you starting a fight with the Song Dynasty defenders?"
"If the farmers don't cooperate, how can it work without fighting?"
"You came just in time. Just tonight, we will go over and pull out these four nails."
"Come on, eat more, you'll be able to work better later."
Wang Erlang couldn't help but put some food into Wang Fu's bowl and urged him to eat quickly.
Wang Fu looked at the food in the bowl and felt helpless. A group of people came to the border to deal with the Xixia people. Just over a month had passed and the Xixia people had not touched a single hair. They were about to turn around and use the knife on their own people. This is called What's the matter?
Wang Fu thought about it but still felt that the risk was too great, so he asked: "How many soldiers and horses do we have now?"
Yue Fei replied: "There are now three thousand soldiers, all equipped with bows and horses. The general is afraid that the news will be leaked, so he has not summoned them yet."
Afraid that Wang Fu would not be confident, Yue Fei added: "These four nails are all covered by our internal agents. To go tonight, we only need to control a few people including the guard. One night is enough."
Upon hearing this, Wang Fu's brows still did not relax, but instead squeezed tighter, "What should we do about the Japanese army?"
"Just their five hundred..."
Wang Erlang's hand holding the vegetables suddenly stopped, his expression was dull, and even the food in his mouth dropped.
"Erlang, haven't you ever considered supporting the Japanese army?"
Wang Fu looked at him like this, his heart gradually sank to the bottom of the sea, and he looked at him in disbelief.
Wang Gui couldn't eat anymore at this time and lowered his head, not daring to look at his brother's face.
Only Yue Fei didn't know why. Of course he had seen the Japanese army before, and they had come to the border with them. He didn't even care about the five hundred soldiers who were just waiting to die.
So he asked Wang Fu, "Brother Wang, are there any problems with these five hundred Japanese troops?"
Wang Fu slowly removed his eyes from Wang Erlang, looked at Yue Fei, and explained to him word for word, "Five hundred is just the strength of one battalion of the Japanese army. They are assigned to the Zhenrong army for garrison, and there are other battalions." The total strength of the troops, totaling more than 10,000 cavalry, is assigned to various military towns at the border. Their daily task is to patrol the border. After the trade routes are opened, large caravans cannot be hidden from their eyes. "
"And they are all cavalry..."
When Wang Fu said this, he stopped talking. As smart as Yue Fei, he naturally understood the meaning of more than 10,000 cavalry.
Yue Fei was silent at this time. He really didn't know this. Although he now had three thousand troops, he was just a small soldier in the end. If Wang Zhi didn't tell him this, how could he know the arrangements of the Song Dynasty court.
But Wang Zhi and Wang Erlang simply did not consider this.
"I'm going to find my uncle!"
Wang Zhi wiped the corners of his mouth, stood up and left without hesitation, just like he walked without hesitation after making a plan.
This style of behavior can be called firm or reckless.
Wang Erlang was obviously the latter. At this time, he also realized this, so he went out and ran away without even looking at the three of them.
Wang Gui watched Wang Erlang run away, and followed him silently. The remaining two people, Wang Fu and Yue Fei, looked at each other, sighed, and then discussed how to deal with the more than 10,000 cavalry if there was a fight. .
They are not afraid of the soldiers in various cities and towns, because their task is to defend the city, and they will not go out to fight without cavalry. Moreover, their trade route planning does not pass through large cities. Some small forts and villages rely on their three thousand cavalry. It can be suppressed completely, not to mention that as long as the guards are controlled, the soldiers will not stop them from doing business as long as they are given a small favor.
It's just that these more than 10,000 Japanese cavalrymen are difficult to deal with. After all, their mission is to patrol the border. If something happens in their inspection area, each of them will not be able to escape punishment. Although the internal corruption of the Japanese army is severe, even if It's ten thousand pigs, and it can stop caravans from coming on horseback.
The two discussed for a long time but couldn't come up with a solution. In the end, they could only sigh in their hearts that Wang Erlang was unreliable.
When Wang Erlang arrived at the Zhenrong Army, the sun had already set. If it weren't for Wang Fu's intervention, more than 3,000 people would have already set off by this time.
Wang Erlang cursed secretly, then put on a smile and entered the Zhenrong Junfu Yamen.
A scribe stopped Wang Zhi on the way and said, "Commander Wang, I have concluded that he is not in the office."
"Not there?"
Wang Zhi was puzzled. His uncle would go back to the office to take care of business until very late every day. Why did he go back to rest so early today? So he asked, "Did you go back to the house then?"
Tongsuan's bedroom is also in the government office, which is allocated by the government. If it were in the Song Dynasty, officials would basically not live in the government office, but in this border area, they must live in the government office in order to deal with emergency matters as soon as possible. .
"The judge is not in the bedroom either." The clerk shook his head, "He is upstairs in the east city."
"Okay, I'll go find him."
Before Wang Zhi wanted to leave, he was stopped by the clerk again, "Hey, Commander, the judge is in a bad mood today. He didn't see anyone. He stayed alone upstairs in the east city for half a day and didn't even eat dinner. You It’s best not to get into trouble.”
As Zhong Hao's personal secretary, the scribe naturally knew that the uncle and nephew were not compatible and would scold him when they met.
"Don't worry, I'm not here to quarrel with him today."
Wang Zhi patted him on the shoulder, went out and went straight to the East Tower.
Instructing Wang Gui to wait for him downstairs, Wang Zhi went up to the tower alone.
In the afterglow of the sun, Wang Zhi saw a man standing in the shadow of the old tower. He clasped his hands behind his back and looked toward the east without moving for a long time.
Wang Zhi walked to his side and followed his gaze to the east. The sky was getting dark and there was nothing.
Just when Wang Zhi was hesitant and didn't know how to speak, Zhong Hao spoke up, "Don't you want to open up a trade route? Okay, uncle has promised, let's go from here to suppress the army. The road is wide."
Listening to his uncle's emotionless voice, Wang Erlang's eyes widened, "Uncle..."
"You..."
"You don't have to worry about supporting the Japanese army. My uncle will make arrangements."
Wang Erlang: "..."
If Wang Erlang had heard his uncle's permission before, he would have jumped with excitement, but seeing his uncle so lonely today, he couldn't be happy anymore.
"Uncle, what's wrong?"
"Failed..."
"Failed? What failed?"
Wang Erlang reacted as soon as he asked, and his expression suddenly became extremely nervous, "What about my father, my eldest brother, and grandpa?"
"Your father and brother advise you not to advance rashly. Tong Guan will not like it, so you can only defend the city after abandoning it. Nothing will happen."
"The forward army of the Northern Expedition was defeated in Baigou. Tens of thousands of soldiers lay dead. Your grandfather was in charge of the rear and saved the last seed of the Northern Expedition. When he retreated to Xiongzhou, he was stopped by Tong Guan outside the city and was forced to fight with the pursuers. , now...I don’t know whether I will live or die..."
"How could this happen...how could this happen..."
Although Wang Zhi had a bad premonition about the Northern Expedition, there was no reason why an army of 200,000 people would be defeated against a remnant Liao enclave with only 10,000 people stationed there, let alone such a disastrous defeat...
"Why, why, uncle?"
"Grandpa and the Western Army are here, how could they be defeated?"
When Zhong Hao heard this question, his eyes glowed with hatred, "The Western Army is originally a mountainous army in the northwest, with many infantry. They fought through the plains and were forcibly dispersed by Tong Guan, the eunuch. In an army of ten thousand, the soldiers do not know the generals, and the generals do not know the soldiers. If they are charged by the Liao cavalry, how can they find the mastermind?"
"The child thief deserves death!"
Wang Zhi punched the bricks of the city wall and said through gritted teeth: "This thief is causing harm to the country and my grandfather. I will kill him."
"Maybe you are right."
"The Great Song Dynasty may really be hopeless."
Only then did Zhong Hao turn to look at his nephew, who was half a head taller than him, "Go ahead and do it, uncle will protect you."
"Um!"
Wang Erlang met his uncle's gaze and nodded heavily.
