"Li Shusheng, are you still short of food?"
Li Xianzhong had a temperament like Liu Qi's, and he and Wang Yaksha were almost the same as each other, so Wang De often called him "scholar".
When they got closer, Wang De got off his horse, and Li Xianzhong immediately greeted him:
"Why is there a food shortage?"
Although Shouzhou had 30,000 people crammed into a small place, it can be said that the whole country was united in this Northern Expedition. There was not a single obstacle on the way. The efficiency of the state capitals in various places was high, which was the first time in Li Xianzhong's life that he had seen it.
The emperor issued a death order. Whoever dares to delay his revenge will suffer the same fate as Qin Hui. Under such pressure...
Short of food?
Li Xianzhong was very puzzled by Wang De's question.
But before Wang De could answer, he asked a more important question:
"Why did you come to Shouzhou to care about me when you weren't with His Majesty?"
"Could it be that the Jin people have retreated, or that the officials have led you to break out of the encirclement?"
After riding for more than a day, Wang De showed no sign of fatigue. He patted the snow on his armor and said:
"Don't mention it. I've been holding it in for months in fucking Yingzhou. I thought the golden dog was big. Who knew, but I didn't even dare to fight. I'm just fucking bluffing."
He talked in random directions, asking Li Xianzhong if he had a son, and what he had eaten at night.
But even so, Li Xianzhong still put the fragmented information together abruptly.
It turned out that the emperor and everyone were staying in Yingzhou. The weather was getting colder and colder, but none of the Jin people's follow-up troops could be seen.
On one side, they were just besieging the city, not even moving close to Yingzhou City... The emperor also wanted to take advantage of Yingzhou's favorable location - the defense fortifications that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to build, so that the other side could enjoy it.
In this way, they just think that they are waiting for the city to run out of food... just wait, at least they have delayed so many people. When the year is over, the emperor will want to eat these people. At that time , and then march directly to Kaifeng.
But just three days ago, there were a few twists and turns.
That day, the officials led everyone to play a gambling game on the city wall as usual, but they heard that the Jin army in the west had made a move. Everyone was in a hurry. No one could stand the provocation of such news, and they immediately became red. Face, he said that he would use the golden dog's head to cook wine and eat it.
But they failed to wait for the Jin army. Instead, they waited for a group of Yue Fei's troops... The person who came was none other than Dong Xian, the commander of the Tabai Army of Yue Shaobao's family.
Who doesn't know the name of the Yue family's White Army? Last time, relying on this army, Yue Shaobao was able to defeat the Jin man's horse. It was fast. When Dong Xian arrived at Yingzhou City, Everyone welcomed him in, but found that he only brought 300 people!
Three hundred people broke through the Jin army's siege!
Li Xianzhong grew up in the army. Whether it was the Iron Buddha of the Jin Kingdom or the Iron Kites of the Western Xia Dynasty, he had seen it. Now he heard that there were such troops in the world... Knowing that Wang Yaksha was a man who did not lie, Li Xianzhong At that time, I was a little bit tongue-tied.
Seeing the shock on this man's face, Wang Yaksha touched his head:
"Don't be too surprised. When Dong arrived in the city first, the officials wanted to reward him, but he refused. They just said that they just wanted to have a break, but they didn't want the Jin man to even show his knife. , and released them directly into the city."
"It's like...deliberate."
Li Xianzhong lowered his head and thought for a while, and suddenly felt enlightened. Wang De smiled and said:
"You've thought about it too, haven't you?"
"That Jin man is not waiting for food to run out, but he has no intention of fighting with us at all!"
"That's the truth!"
Wang Dexi was pleased with his quick reaction, clapped his hands and said:
"This made His Majesty so angry. He still wanted to use himself as bait to catch some big fish like the Golden Man, but he didn't want to be the one biting the hook... Hahaha."
Wang Yaksha smiled wildly, and his smile was filled with the joy and bitterness of the emperor's winning money from him.
Li Xianzhong gave him a strange look:
"You also smiled like this in front of His Majesty?"
Wang De looked at him: "Otherwise, why would I appear here?"
"Dong Xian said that they had been cut off from contact with the DPRK for three days. The weather was originally bad, so it was normal for some delays on the road."
"But not only were there no visitors from the court, even the generals sent to Lin'an, who were supposed to return on time, were not seen for three days... They were in a stalemate with the Golden Dog in Ruzhou. There must be no mistakes, and Knowing that there was a lot of food at the official house, I thought of paying some first and then replenishing it later."
This seemed to be okay, but Li Xianzhong was still puzzled:
"Three days?"
"You also think it's strange, hey, damn it, if not Yue Shaobao can do it, Li Qiong is so stubborn that he won't obey me, so just obey him... The official asked Dong Xian: 'It's only three days, is it necessary? ?'"
"Dong Xian said: 'Other people don't know, but the Han army under Yue Shaobao's rule is even an hour behind, which means something big has happened'."
Li Xianzhong sincerely admired him and said: "The strictness of his military management is indeed something I can't wait for."
Although military affairs are as important as Mount Tai, as long as you are human, some accidents will inevitably happen. As long as there are accidents, some errors are normal.
Just because he was three days away, Yue Pengju thought about what was going to happen in the future. They all said that there is no room for mistakes in marching and fighting, but how many people in this world can really do it?
"Of course the officials gave them the food. They also thought that if something happened, it would definitely be the same in the Huaihe River, so they sent people to the armies to ask if there were any food shortages. Yingzhou can make up for it. .”
"But what could have happened in Lin'an that delayed the news?"
After hearing this question, Wang De poked his head around for a while and then whispered:
"Everyone is thinking about it too, but what do you think His Majesty said?"
"It's not Yaksha who is trying to hide his secrets! Speak faster."
Wang Yaksha chuckled: "The official shook the dice and said, maybe someone is plotting rebellion."
rebellion……
The gold content of these two words can only be filled by the lives of at least three tribesmen. Since the emperor has made such a guess, he must be... prepared?
He had only returned from the north two years ago, and his relationship with His Majesty was not that deep. However, no matter how hard Li Xianzhong didn't understand, this was also the emperor of the Song Dynasty!
Which emperor would have such a reaction after hearing that someone was plotting rebellion?
"My Lord has the power to swallow up the entire universe. He is a king rarely seen in the ages."
"Don't use those words, it's annoying to listen to!" Wang De glared at him. From a dignified military commander to a soldier delivering orders, Wang Yaksha didn't feel the slightest bit unhappy.
On the contrary, he was still very excited, wishing he could meet some blind people on the road so that he could wash himself with human blood.
"Since you are not short of food, then I will go to Suzhou... The two envoys are really cowards. Li Qiong blocked them there."
He is naturally qualified to say this. Li Qiong mentioned Suzhou. Last year, Wang De led his army to the north. This man didn't even fight. He only said that "Yaksha is invincible", so he abandoned Suzhou and ran away.
Now that Zhao Mi and Yang Yizhong were defeated, he could go and see where they were defeated.
Saying that, without even drinking any water, he got on his horse again. Li Xianzhong hurriedly caught him and called Lao Wangtou over:
"This guy just came from Lin'an, so you can ask him something."
"Oh?" Wang De jumped down again after he was already on horseback and looked at the old man leading the donkey, "Are you from Lin'an?"
Seeing the ugly appearance of this man, Lao Wang was already a little timid. At this time, he just hesitated and said:
"Yes, it is."
Wang De usually doesn't use his brain, but when he can use his brain, he is quite like Captain Zhang.
The saying that like generals means like soldiers, it fits the two of them very well.
Just like now, Wang De just thought for a moment and grabbed the old Wangtou's collar, scaring the old man to the point of bursting into tears:
"Marshal, spare your life, Marshal, spare your life."
"Old man, there is no news about the Yue Shaobao family, but you arrived first. How come you are more powerful than the Yue Family Army?"
Li Xianzhong couldn't see him treating an old man like this, so he quickly persuaded him to stop, told him what Lao Wangtou had just said, and said:
"Yaksha, don't be reckless, listen to what others say first."
"Well..." Li Xianzhong still had to give him face. Wang De stared at the old Wang's head as if he wanted to eat people:
"What's your son-in-law's name, and who is he following? What happened in Lin'an? Tell me immediately. If you dare to tell a lie... you won't be able to survive today!"
The old Wangtou was afraid of returning, but he was determined in his heart not to hold back the emperor... He had also been a soldier, so of course he knew that it would only take a blink of an eye for morale to drop.
At this juncture, no matter how we say it, we cannot let these traitorous troops know about the rebellion in Lin'an, otherwise... only a few years have passed since the Miao and Liu rebellions and the Huaixi military rebellion!
He gritted his teeth and said: "My son-in-law is my son-in-law, and he is with His Majesty the Emperor!"
"As for Lin'an City... Lin'an City is very good. Everyone eats well and sleeps well. They all hope to return to Kaifeng early!"
Seeing that he refused to give his name and only said that he was working for the emperor... Wang De and Li Xianzhong looked at each other, so they could only be from the Imperial City Department.
Seeing that this man did not look like a criminal, Wang Yaksha thought again:
"Yingzhou is still surrounded by Jin people. You alone will not be able to enter."
"If you are interested, just wait here and ask me for you when I get back."
This was already a great help, but Lao Wangtou just shook his head and picked up the rope holding the donkey on the ground:
"The little old man understands the good intentions of the two marshals. It's just that he has been delayed for a long time when he came out from Lin'an. If he could see the little old man's son-in-law one day earlier, he would be able to let him know his situation one day earlier, and he would be able to do something. Prepare a day early.”
With that said, Lao Wangtou, who originally wanted to have a meal in the city, simply gave up the idea and walked towards the outside of the city.
This old man is quite stubborn.
No matter how you say it, it's a human life, but they say it's hard to persuade a ghost who wants to die. He has military affairs, so he really can't be of much help now.
Wang De thought for a while and finally caught up:
"Old man, don't say I didn't remind you, where did that bastard from the Jin Kingdom get his humanity? If you go like this, ten lives will be lost."
Old Wangtou was as stubborn as his donkey. He took out a piece of cake from his baggage, broke off half of it and fed it to his donkey, and stuffed the other half into his mouth.
"If you insist on doing this, you have to check the location carefully. If you go through Yingshui, you can avoid the Jin people... But in this climate, even if you get to Yingzhou, you will be frozen to death."
As he spoke, Wang De threw his sign to him:
"This is my sign. Take it out before entering the city. It will save you a lot of trouble. Otherwise, you can only ask for it."
Only then did the old man stop and kowtow to Wang Yaksha:
"Thank you, Marshal. Marshal, please leave your name so that when he meets my son-in-law, he can thank you properly."
"no thanks!"
Wang De rode back. For him, this was the last time he and the old man met.
The snow in the sky finally showed signs of stopping, and the sun finally showed its face after being absent for many days.
Scattered in this vast white sky, it actually formed a picture of the old Wang Tou and his donkey on the road.
Yingshui is right next to Yingzhou, and you can go directly to the river within a hundred steps.
Because they were too close together, the Jin people on the east side were all gathered around the other side of Yingshui.
As Wang De said, it is absolutely impossible for Lao Wangtou to go to Yingzhou alone except this way.
The old man was not a fool. He looked at the map for a long time before heading north. Along the way, there were fewer and fewer people to see, and the weather became colder and colder.
Fortunately, he is getting closer to Yingzhou.
On the twenty-ninth day of the twelfth lunar month in the eleventh year of Shaoxing, Lao Wangtou stood on the upper reaches of the Ying River. On the side he stood was the camp set up by the Jin people, which stretched for several miles; and on the other side was Yingzhou where the emperor was. .
He didn't dare to get too close for fear of being discovered by the golden man, so he just stood silently a little more than a mile upstream.
He had been standing for two hours, feeding all the cakes he bought in his bag to the donkey. Although it was winter now, the ice cubes floating in the water kept reminding the old man:
It's cool here.
"That's all, at such an old age, you've already done your damn job well enough."
He kept persuading himself, and finally he was cruel and untied the rope from the donkey:
"Go find someone else's house to make a living on your own, you beast."
A slap was slapped on its butt, but the donkey didn't seem to react. It still stood there, looking back from time to time to look at the old man behind it.
"Beasts are just beasts, they don't even understand the truth."
There was not much he could do anymore. The old man clearly saw a group of golden men walking in his direction. If they didn't get into the river, they would really have no chance.
As soon as he took off his clothes, Old Wangtou couldn't help but shudder... He was all skinny and lean. If it weren't for the several wounds on his shoulders that showed the old man's experience in his youth, he would really look like a wounded man. Skinned rabbit.
"Xin Ciying, fuck your mother!"
He cursed loudly and jumped into the water.
Until this time, he did not dare to scold the emperor. Xin Ciying's name became his only outlet for venting.
The overwhelming coldness hit him, and Lao Wangtou felt that his whole body's hands and feet were not in control, as if they were all numb.
He just felt extremely cold. He kept his head down and floated in the water for a long time. When he raised his head again... the old man almost burst into tears. For him, this period of time was extremely long, and he was only a dozen or so miles away from the shore. Just a few steps away.
But the good news is that he's starting to get used to it.
It's fine if I don't move, but if I move, it will hurt wherever I move.
He lay on the water, waiting for the water to wash him down... The coolness from Tianling Gai made Lao Wangtou bite his purple lips tightly.
"Hey~"
An arrow hit his side, causing a splash of water. He turned his head and looked, and it turned out that it was the golden man on the shore who had discovered him.
"Fuck your mother!"
Many arrows were submerged into the water, and the old Wang didn't care about the stinging pain on his head. He dived down again, and his whole body disappeared.
Someone entered Yingzhou from Xicheng a few days ago, and they seemed to be Yue Fei's men.
Later, someone else left the city from the east... Heshi Liezhining went from the south to the east today. He actually didn't have to come.
They are all people from the grasslands, but they are not Khitan people. They are the Wuliangheti tribe, the Suledusi tribe, the Xushen tribe, the Hongjila tribe and the Qiyan tribe.
They came from different tribes, and none of them were Jin people. Although they said they were besieging but not attacking, Zhining was still worried that something would go wrong with them.
So I came to take a look and cheer these people up.
Just in time, I saw Lao Wangtou floating in the river. He went to Yingzhou like this in front of many people. Although it was unexpected, there was no doubt that he did not give face to these grassland tribes.
Everyone was scrambling to show off in front of Dajin's general.
Seeing that man sneaking into the river again, everyone felt a pity, so they left without passing. It was just one person. It didn't matter how many people had been let out before.
But only this time...
Zhining ordered: "Keep shooting, don't stop, don't let him enter the city."
This time he was indeed alone, and Zhining did not know the purpose of his trip to Yingzhou.
But at this time, when everyone knew that Yingzhou was under siege, what kind of people would come?
Knowing that the weather was cold, what was it that made him go to Yingzhou even at the risk of losing his life?
Many men and horses have been sent out in front. If this person has left the city before, he should know that his side is besieging but not attacking, avoiding the enemy but not fighting. As long as they exceed a hundred, they can come and go freely.
Song people are not people who go out of Yingzhou, but people who must enter the city at this time.
No matter what it was, Zhining only knew one thing, he couldn't be allowed to enter the city.
Although everyone didn't know why he wanted to embarrass a person who seemed destined to die... It would be strange to come out of the river on such a cold day and not die.
But they all obeyed his order and shot all their arrows into the river.
The sound of splashing water had already alerted the guards at the city gate. Yue Yun learned the news and rushed over immediately.
I thought they were taking action, but I only saw arrows being fired into the water from the other side.
"This is……"
The guard next to him answered: "It seems like someone entered the water from upstream just now. They should be looking for that person."
What Zhining can figure out, Yue Yun can also figure out.
At this time, this man insisted on coming to Yingzhou. No matter who he was or what his purpose was, he must have something very important.
Even if not, the person on the other side who wants to kill must be the one who wants to live on his side.
He ordered: "Take a look first and let the heavy armored troops wait. If that person shows up, go and bring him in immediately!"
Although he was young, his mind was delicate and he ordered:
"Ask the doctor to prepare. Dry clothes, quilts, and warm basins are all ready... then go and report to the officials."
Several people were ordered to go, and Yue Yun was alone at the city gate, looking at the slowly flowing Yingshui in front of him.
On the other side, the soldier didn't know where the emperor was. He just went to Yingzhou Yamen first and met Zhong Lei and Zhang Taiwei. He told them this. Maybe the life here was too boring. After a while, the opposite side looked like wood, and there was no movement.
Now that there is finally some movement, Captain Zhang is also very excited, and looks at Zhong Lei... Your people from the Imperial City Department have always been with the officials, so I will leave it to you to report the emperor.
But Your Majesty...Zhong Lei counted on his fingers. If the odd number is, he grinded tofu at Widow Li's house on West Street. If the even number is, he should have learned weaving at Madam Wan'er's house on East Street.
With a suspicion in mind, he quickly led his people to East Street, and sure enough, he saw people from the Imperial City Division at the door of that house.
They were all wearing casual clothes. Zhong Feng gestured to a few of them, then stepped forward and knocked on the door:
"Commissioner, something's happened!"
In the room, Liu Bang and Lady Wan were studying the different expressions of mandarin ducks and magpies on cloth. Now that it was a critical moment, Lady Wan's eyes were a little confused:
"Youngest Liu, your family has come to summon you."
"It's okay, it's okay."
Liu Bang learned to weave cloth for many days, and he was about to succeed. How could he let others ruin his good work?
He pushed down Wan Niangzi who had already sat up. Just as he was about to continue, Zhong Lei's voice sounded again:
"Commissioner! Something really happened!"
"Youngest Liu, why don't you go take a look."
Madam Wan pushed him away. In the cold winter, both of them were feeling hot.
Liu Bang stamped on her face: "Then just wait for me and I'll come back later."
Seeing her nodding, His Majesty the Emperor straightened his clothes and strode outside.
As soon as he opened the door, he looked at Zhong Feng angrily:
"You better have something really wrong with you!"
Zhong Lei saw the mouth mark on the emperor's face and wanted to remind him, but seeing that he was very unhappy, he first told what happened at the city wall.
"Um?"
Liu Bang thought for a while, got on Zhong Lei's horse, and headed towards the city gate without even saying hello.
When he arrived, he found that not only Yue Yun, but pharmacist Zhang Jun, Liu Qi, Han Changguo, and two boys from the Wang family had all arrived.
"Why are you all here?"
"Nothing, come and take a look."
"Where are the people?"
"I just popped up and now I'm diving down again."
What does this person want to do on such a cold day?
He looked at the Yingshui River, which was now densely covered with arrows, but fortunately, the river water was not yet red.
In other words, the man was not injured yet.
After a while, a human head emerged from the middle of the river. Before Liu Bang had time to take a closer look, the man was driven back by the Jin's bow and arrow.
Looks familiar?
We were almost at the gate of Yingzhou City when the head popped out again and wiped the water from his face.
At this time, Liu Bang finally saw clearly.
Lao Wangtou!
Why is he here!
"Yue Yun Wang Qi Wang Shun!"
The three of them were just watching the excitement, but suddenly their names were called by the emperor and they quickly stood up.
"Lead the troops out of the city... The man in the river must not make any mistakes."
Seeing that the official seemed to recognize this person, the three young generals ordered a hundred people each and hurried out.
(End of chapter)
