The next morning, after Zhao Bin and Xing'er did some morning exercises, they led everyone out of the palace and went straight to the city gate. Before leaving, they told Chunxi to find a way to get two more sheep back and prepare them for their brothers. They catch the wind and wash away the dust. Surrounded by fifty guards, the group came to the city gate and happened to bump into Qin Fang, who was inspecting the city defense. Qin Fang was naturally tall, and when he wore a suit of armor, he looked even more powerful.
Qin Fang stepped forward and saluted: "The general will pay homage to His Highness King Yan."
"Captain Qin doesn't have to be polite." Zhao Bin smiled silently.
"Dare you ask, Your Majesty, are you leaving the city?" Qin Fang stood up and asked.
"Yes, I'll go out for a walk if I have nothing to do," Zhao Bin said nonchalantly.
Qin Fang frowned slightly when he heard that Zhao Bin was about to leave the city, and then said: "Your Majesty, now that it is the autumn harvest, there will be rangers from the Jie tribe crossing the mountains and entering the pass, burning, killing and grabbing food everywhere. For the sake of your safety, Your Majesty, It’s better not to leave the city.”
Zhao Bin heard that there were Jie people's rangers coming out again, and his heart tightened, and he immediately asked: "Are there many people coming in?"
"Back to the prince, because the mountain road is difficult to travel, there are not many people coming. Every year, only a few hundred people will enter the pass. Later, they will be divided into several small groups, ranging from hundreds to dozens of people, to disperse and plunder villages and towns. ." Qin Fang said helplessly.
"Xiao Chu, take your brothers to pick up the convoy immediately to avoid any mistakes." Zhao Bin immediately ordered. He knew that although there were only a few hundred Jie people coming, these Jie people would never dare to come to the pass to plunder with just two legs. If that were the case, they would not be able to rob nearly any food. Those who can carry it out, even if the mountain road is difficult, these people probably led the horses in. The Yancheng defenders are all infantry, and most of them cannot ride horses. Moreover, there are only a few dozen military horses in Yancheng, basically. They are all used for patrolling and delivering messages. It is impossible to hunt down these rangers.
"Yes, I will obey your orders," Xiao Chu responded. "One group and two will stay to protect the prince. Groups three, four and five will follow me." Xiao Chu then shouted loudly to the guards behind him.
"No need, just take all the people away. Lao Wu can just stay. Captain Qin and the others are here, so everything will be fine." Zhao Bin said immediately.
"But your lord..." Xiao Chu glanced at Qin Fang and wanted to say something else, but was interrupted by Zhao Bin.
"It's okay, go quickly." Zhao Bin knew what Xiao Chu wanted to say, and he was worried about Qin Fang. But considering that Qin Fang had just blocked him from leaving the city, he probably wouldn't do anything to him.
"It's the prince." Xiao Chu said nothing more, turned around and strode out of the city with fifty guards.
After watching Xiao Chu leave the city, Zhao Bin turned to Qin Fang and asked: "Captain Qin, can you accompany me to the city wall for a walk?"
"Your Majesty, please" Qin Fang made a gesture of invitation without saying much.
Zhao Bin silently walked towards the city wall stairs, Qin Fang followed beside him, and Wang Wu followed one step behind them. Qin Fang noticed that the moment Xiao Chu left, Wang Wu's hand was silently pressed on his saber.
The three of them walked up to the city wall and walked slowly along the city wall. Zhao Bin looked at the empty wilderness. There were overgrown weeds everywhere, and there were only sparse pedestrians on the official road. Looking at this desolate scene, Zhao Bin couldn't help but sigh, "But if the flying generals of Dragon City are here, I won't teach Hu Ma to cross the Yan (Yin) Mountains." The original text is Wang Changling's poem "Don't teach Hu Ma to cross the Yin Mountains." Zhao Bin was moved by the scene and changed it to to Yanshan.
When Qin Fang heard these two poems, he couldn't help but feel startled. Although he was a military general, he was also proficient in writing. Although he didn't know who the Flying General of Longcheng was, he knew what Hu Ma meant and where Yanshan was. This sentence "Don't teach Huma to travel to Yanshan" expresses the aspirations of the people and soldiers in the frontier fortress.
Zhao Bin looked into the distance and asked casually, "Where is Captain Qin from?"
"The last general is a Taoist from Hebei, and his ancestral home is Changshan." Qin Fang replied unhurriedly.
"Changshan? That's a very famous place. Who else is there in the family?" Zhao Bin continued.
"No one!" Qin Fang said without any expression.
"No one?" Zhao Bin was a little surprised.
"Yes, in the early years of Yuanhe, the Jie people broke through the pass and went south, burning, killing and looting, all the way to the north bank of the Yellow River. All the family members died in the war. In the eighth year of Yuanhe, the imperial court went on the Northern Expedition, and the last general joined the army." After saying that, Qin Fang also raised his head and looked into the distance, seeming to be recalling something.
Wang Wu leaned close to Zhao Bin's ear and said, "Your Majesty, it was General Ding who led the Northern Expedition in the eighth year of Yuanhe."
"Oh? So that means Captain Qin is my grandfather's old subordinate?"
"Yes, the last general was indeed under the command of General Ding at that time," Qin Fang replied.
"Then do you know Wang Wu? He is General Ding's personal soldier." Zhao Bin asked curiously.
"In the thirteenth year of Yuanhe, when we recaptured Yan City, I met the old general when he entered the city." Qin Fang said calmly.
Zhao Bin turned to look at Wang Wu. Wang Wu shook his head and said he had no impression. In fact, this was not surprising. At that time, the Northern Expeditionary Army had 150,000 troops directly under the imperial court, and the forces from all over the country had a total of 250,000 troops, for a total of 400,000 troops. At the end of the battle, there were less than 200,000 people left. With so many people, it was impossible for Wang Wu to remember many of them. At most, he could only remember some generals. Later, Wang Wu returned to the capital and entered Ding's mansion. Until Zhao Bin opened the mansion, Concubine Ding asked Wang Wu to serve as his bodyguard to protect him.
The three of them chatted on the city wall until it was almost morning. Wang Wu pointed in the distance and shouted excitedly: "Your Majesty, look, it's a motorcade. Commander Xiao is back."
Zhao Bin and Qin Fang looked in the direction pointed by Wang Wu and saw a group of people guarding the convoy coming towards the city gate.
Qin Fang asked curiously: "Your Majesty, what is this?"
"Oh, it's nothing. I'll let the brothers go get some seafood. If Captain Qin has time, he can come to the palace to try it." Zhao Bin said with a laugh.
"Thank you, Your Majesty"
When the soldiers guarding the city heard that it was seafood, they looked curiously at the slowly approaching convoy. In fact, they had no idea what seafood was. In those days, it was difficult to transport seafood to the inland. The place is already smelly, so except for the people on the coast who can eat seafood, many people in the inland have never seen what seafood looks like. Although I have never seen it or eaten it, I heard that it is the food eaten by the palace, so it is naturally good food, which makes people look envious.
Before Xu Ling left, Zhao Bin told Xu Ling how to make and store ice, and also drew some drawings, asking Xu Ling to bring back some seafood to try. Xu Ling also lived up to Zhao Bin's expectations. When the tide was low, he would take his brothers to the beach to pick up seafood, and then put them in the pond to raise them. When he returned, he would pick out some large crabs, shrimps and sea cucumbers. Sealed with ice, this ensured that the small half truckload of seafood could be transported back to Yancheng.
Zhao Bin stood on the city wall, waved vigorously towards the convoy, and then said to Qin Fang: "Let's go, Captain Qin. I will go back to the palace first. Captain Qin can come to the palace to eat seafood when you are free." He walked towards the city wall without looking back.
Qin Fang looked at Zhao Bin's leaving figure, raised his hands and saluted, "Thank you, Your Majesty."
