"Well, old man, come here." Xu Zongwen straightened up immediately after entering the city gate. The rickety man suddenly disappeared, and his strong and tall figure was once again revealed to everyone.
The woodcutter who carried Xu Zongwen and Zhang Si into Nanyang was named Fu.
Hearing Xu Zongwen's voice, Old Fu hesitated at first, but the big man in black light armor kept winking at him, so Old Fu hurriedly followed the guard sergeant into the city.
"Little brother, who are you?" The old woodcutter followed Xu Zongwen tremblingly, looking at the more and more soldiers gathering around him. Soon everyone in the prefect's mansion came out.
Xu Zongwen turned around and patted the old man: "Don't be afraid, old man. I'm a good person. I think you are also a person who keeps your promises, and you are not greedy for money and wealth. Moreover, you are now helpless and relying on your old friends. I want you to What do you think of being my concierge?"
Zhang Si was a few steps behind, and he whispered in Lao Fu's ear for a while. The old Fu, who was still blurry just now, didn't know what to do after listening to Zhang Si's words, and his eyes were as big as copper bells!
Then the old man bowed deeply to Xu Zongwen: "The old man is willing to work as a concierge for you. This is a good thing that will never happen in your lifetime!"
"But the old man promised his old friend first. Now that he has changed his mind, he has to meet with the person and explain everything clearly. It is not a breach of contract. Otherwise, wouldn't the old man become a villain who broke his promise and got fat?" Old Fu insisted on going to see him. He was an old friend for a while, and then came back to work as a concierge for Xu Zongwen.
Xu Zongwen naturally agreed happily, without any reservations.
Just as Lao Fu left with a smile, a group of sergeants from the prefect's mansion had already arrived in front of Xu Zongwen, "Greetings, my lord!"
These sergeants of the Prefecture are all veterans of the Suzaku Camp. Different from the group guarding the city gate, it goes without saying that they all know Xu Zongwen, and they all have a cheerful face when they see their lord.
Xu Zongwen gave Xu Zongwen a hand, and the sergeants slowly straightened up. At this time, Colonel Qin Songnian knelt on one knee and gave Xu Zongwen a standard military salute: "My subordinate, Captain Qin Songnian of the Jiazi Building of Zhuque Camp, pays homage to the lord! I have been ordered to guard Nanyang." I didn’t know that my lord was coming to the city, so I missed you from afar. Please forgive me, lord!”
Qin Songnian was wearing a single green robe, a Fan Kuai crown on his head, and a sachet hanging on his waist. He did not look like a military lieutenant general, and with his smooth and smooth face, he looked more like a playboy and a son of a noble family.
Xu Zongwen didn't know where the second brother Zhuge found such a "weak" jade-faced scholar as a captain. He had never heard the name Qin Songnian in the camp in the past. How strange!
"No need to be so polite, Lieutenant Qin, please rise." Xu Zongwen was neither happy nor angry. He waved his tattered cuffs and climbed down the steps of the prefect's mansion in the presence of all the sergeants: "Soldiers! You must have known about me. I’m afraid it’s futile to hide my identity any longer, so I’ll tell the truth to those who still don’t know what’s going on.”
Xu Zongwen looked at the sergeants surrounding him and identified himself in public: "I am Xu Xiao, the general of the expedition to the north. I came to Nanyang this time to supervise the general atmosphere of the army, and secondly, I haven't seen you brothers for a long time. I miss you, so I came here from Shangyong for no other reason than to take a look at you, and I, Xu Xiao, have always been with my brothers in the Xiaoqi Army!"
Originally, the trip to Nanyang was very secretive. Who would have thought that it would be exposed so quickly? Xu Zongwen simply stopped covering it up. Since Nanyang couldn't wait any longer, let's confess!
"Zhang Si, let the news out that I am in Nanyang, and we will go to Luoyang tomorrow." After Xu Zongwen greeted the sergeants, he asked Qin Songnian to open the treasury, take out wine and meat to reward the brothers, and at the same time asked Zhang Si to prepare the itinerary.
Zhang Si frowned and said worriedly: "My lord, Luoyang is not as good as Nanyang. The road is far away and we have few people. If we encounter some bandits and robbers on the way, don't we know that we will be trapped in a trap and the sheep will fall into the tiger's mouth?"
Xu Zongwen naturally knew that Nanyang was far away from Luoyang, but there was no other way. He could only distract Zhuge Kan by staying in Nanyang.
It would be okay if his identity was not exposed today, but now everyone knows it, and it is estimated that the news of the arrival of General Zhengbei in Nanyang will spread throughout Nanyang at night!
"Luoyang is the cornerstone of the Knights Cavalry Army. We cannot go there with any fanfare or pretend to be refugees. We will just go straight through the prefectures and counties along the road under the banner of the Knights Cavalry Army."
"Of course, we still can't expose the identity of General Zhengbei. We will use Qin Songnian's name. We don't want too many people. It is enough to select a hundred people."
As Xu Zongwen talked, he entered the prefect's mansion. Zhang Si followed him closely when he came out. The others could only watch from a distance behind.
Zhang Si did not stop him because he knew that Xu Zongwen would not give up easily once he made up his mind.
Furthermore, staying in Nanyang is not a good choice. Nanyang is far away from Luoyang, to the north of Jingzhou, and does not border Shangyong and Weixing counties. Nanyang is a small place with a narrow population and few troops stationed there, so it is impossible to guarantee Xu Zongwen's safety.
If the Eagle and Dog Division of the Qin State discovered that Xu Zongwen was in Nanyang, they would probably immediately send agents to assassinate him!
"Is there any new progress in Jinyiwei's investigation of the Eagle Dog Division?" Xu Zongwen seemed to have a tacit understanding and suddenly took the initiative to mention the Eagle Dog Division.
There was a time when Xu Zongwen thought that by establishing Jinyiwei, he would be able to obtain the fastest and most accurate information. However, the appearance of the Eagle Dog Division has always made him fearful. Even though the Qin Kingdom now exists in name only, there is no sign of the Eagle Dog Division disappearing.
Xu Zongwen knows his strengths and weaknesses.
He is good at strategy, whether in the Taiyuan Northern Expedition or the pacification of Sun En's Rebellion, his methods are sufficient, and he is not lacking in courage and tenacity.
However, Xu Zongwen's foundation is too weak. Even now that the Xu family in Donghai has become a famous high-class noble family, it is impossible for them to become as deep-rooted and luxuriant as the Langya Wang family, Chenjun Xie family, and Longkanghuan family in a short period of time. After all, the reason why the Xu family can develop and grow is entirely supported by Xu Zongwen's own military exploits.
It's easy to say that the Northern Expedition will be successful. If anything goes wrong, the nobles and government officials who were harmed by the Xu family will definitely report to the group to attack!
Therefore, Xu Zongwen attached great importance to the Northern Expedition and the Western Expedition. Along the way from Shangyong to Nanyang, the people were in dilapidated condition and the people were in ragged clothes!
Xu Zongwen is well aware of the heavy responsibility on his shoulders and does not dare to slack off!
"Back to my lord, Commander Pang is still waiting for someone to take over the defense in Shangyong. There is no news about the Jinyi Guards yet." During the trip to Nanyang, Commander Pang Bai, who had always been with Xu Zongwen, was temporarily responsible for the defense of Shangyong City, so there was no news.
