Funiu Mountain has a wide valley here in Fangcheng, which is the key link between the north and the south. In the Song Dynasty, Kaifeng Prefecture was established as the capital, the roads were moved eastward, Lushanguan was abandoned, and most north-south traffic took the Fangcheng line. At this time, large vehicles could not pass through Lushanguan, so most of Wang Xiaolie's grain transportation had to pass through Fangcheng.
When Hu Jiaoxiu and Zheng Chen arrived at Fangcheng Posthouse, they saw a huge cargo yard not far away, where most of the grain and grass shipped from the south were stored. Grains and grass were piled up like mountains in the freight yard, waiting for convoys from the north to transport them away.
After looking at the goods yard, Hu Jiaoxiu said to Zheng Chen, "Wang Jieshuai's place has had good harvests year after year. Sure enough, there is no shortage of food and grass."
Zheng Chen said: "How much supplies will be transported for the Northern Expedition with a hundred thousand troops? Everything is arranged in an orderly manner. Wang Jieshuai is very rare."
The two of them talked and entered the inn together. It was the first time that Yi Cheng saw such a high official, and he was cautious in everything.
I just washed up in the inn and changed into civilian clothes. Hu Jiaoxiu said: "The people in the place under Wang Jieshuai's rule are happy and the market is prosperous, which is rare in recent years. Come on, let's go outside and find a place to eat."
After leaving the inn, Yi Cheng was afraid that something might happen, so he had to follow him, and the three of them walked towards the county seat together.
This is an important transportation thoroughfare. There are many inns in the county, there are many pedestrians, and the various shops on the street are very busy. Hu Jiaoxiu and the other three people walked and watched, praising them again and again. In recent years, even in Jiangnan, there has been no such peaceful place. It's really touching.
After walking for a while, Hu Jiaoxiu said: "It's getting late, let's find a place to have some dinner. Yi Cheng, which restaurant here tastes good?"
Yi Cheng said: "The north and south of Fangcheng meet, and there are flavors from all over the place. I wonder what the bachelor's taste is?"
Hu Jiaoxiu said with a smile: "My taste is nothing special, I can eat anything. Now that I'm in the Central Plains, of course I have to eat the local food here."
Yi Cheng said: "The local taste is nothing special. - By the way, dumplings have been popular in several nearby states in the past two years. I wonder if a bachelor can eat them?"
Hu Jiaoxiu said: "When I was in Tangzhou, I saw a dumpling restaurant on the roadside. It was very clean. Okay, let's eat dumplings tonight!"
Yi Cheng said: "There is a Cyclamen dumpling restaurant opened by the Zhizhi Shishi. It can be found in various places. The dumplings there are full of flavor and the dishes are rich. It is the most suitable."
Dumplings have skins and fillings and look similar to wontons, but the way they are eaten is quite different. At this time, society was beginning to settle down, folk businesses were booming, and dumpling restaurants suddenly became popular. This kind of food is inexpensive, convenient and available everywhere.
Cyclamen is a chain industry of Wangxiao Hunting and Manufacturing Company, which is open in most prefectures and counties. The Xiangyang headquarters specializes in researching the taste of dumplings, and after deciding on it, the branches in various places will follow suit. There are unified standards for how to knead the dough, how to wake it up, how to roll the skin into it, what seasonings to use for the stuffing, and what flavor to use. There are even unified standards for what dishes to have in Jiaozi Restaurant and how to prepare the dishes.
Due to strict standards and inflexible management, Cyclamen is not the best dumpling restaurant in some states and counties, but it must be one of the best dumpling restaurants. The specialty is that the prices are not expensive, the dumplings are delicious, and the business is very good.
Since last year, Wang Xiaolie's businesses have gradually become profitable, and Cyclamen Dumpling House is one of them.
After walking not far along the street, I saw a two-story house on the roadside with a "Cyclamen" plaque hanging on it. This restaurant looks quite small, but there is no colorful building in front of the door, and there are no female prostitutes, so it looks much simpler.
When I walked to the door, a boy came up to greet me enthusiastically.
Hu Jiaoxiu and others entered the restaurant, and when they were about to go up to the pavilion on the second floor, they heard the people next to them shout loudly: "This time Zhongmou was victorious, a prince Liu Lin escaped, and even the famous general Li Chengdu had his legs broken and was captured alive. Come--"
Hu Jiaoxiu's heart was moved and he hurriedly said to the man: "Sir, what is the great victory in Zhongmu? Was it the Song Army's great victory in Zhongmu County?"
The man smiled and said, "You guessed it right. It was Captain Niu who led Captain Cao and Lieutenant Jie to a great victory in Zhongmou County! This news has just reached Zhongmou. If you ask someone else, you still can't explain clearly!" "
Hu Jiaoxiu looked at Zheng Chen and couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. These days, the Jin army and the puppet Qi siege of Luoyang have been weighing on Hu Jiaoxiu's mind, and he is worried that Wang Xiaolie will not be able to defend Luoyang. After traveling thousands of miles to come to Luoyang with a reward, it would be unlucky to encounter a defeat. Now that Zhongmou has won a great victory, I feel much more relaxed.
Seeing that there were only two guests over there, Hu Jiaoxiu said: "My guest, if it's more convenient, please move to the second floor. I'll buy you two glasses of wine. By the way, how about the great victory in Zhongmou? Let's grow up." experience."
The guest looked at Hu Jiaoxiu and Hu Jiaoxiu up and down, and saw that they were elegant and did not look like bad people, so he readily agreed.
When they arrived at the pavilion on the second floor, Hu Jiaoxiu ordered a plate of dumplings for everyone, a few more dishes, and asked the boy to order a bottle of good wine.
After pouring the wine, the guest said: "I'm Hu Sanlang, this is Chen Ying, he does some small business in the surrounding counties and counties. I don't know who the official is -"
Hu Jiaoxiu said: "I happen to have the same surname as you, and I came from Xingzai. I heard about the great victory in Zhongmou, but I haven't heard about it in recent years. Can you tell us in detail?"
Hu Sanlang first drank a glass of wine and ate a mulberry tree, and then said: "I was in Ye County the day before yesterday, and I heard about it from the guests from the north. I heard from the guests that the Commander-in-Chief had occupied Luoyang City, and the Jin Army sent a Pulling away from Su, Liu Yu sent his son and an army of hundreds of thousands to attack. In Zhongmou, Taiwei Niu Gao was the marshal, and he had two generals, Cao Zhiyan and Xie Linong. The day before, Taiwei Xie and Li Nong led two generals. Tens of thousands of troops suddenly surrounded Zhongmou City. How could the prince Liu Lin in the city expect to be surrounded? He was stunned! In just a few hours, Lieutenant Jie broke through Zhongmou City and captured Liu Lin's tens of thousands of troops. .It’s a pity that Liu Lin got away!”
Hu Jiaoxiu also drank a glass of wine. Said: "What a pity!"
Hu Sanlang said: "It turns out that this Lin has a pioneer, Li Cheng, who was originally a general of our court. He joined Liu Yu for the sake of wealth. At this time, he was stationed in Baisha Town, not far from Zhongmou County. Liu Lin escaped from Zhongmou City. It turned out that I’m going to defect to Pioneer Li Cheng!”
Zheng Chen whispered to Hu Jiaoxiu: "Baisha is on the post road between the two capitals and is under the jurisdiction of Zhongmu County."
Hu Jiaoxiu nodded: "So that's it. Liu Lin and Li Cheng's armies are not far apart."
Hu Sanlang said: "When Liu Lin arrived in Li Cheng's army, he might not have thought about fighting back to Zhongmou County. Who would have thought that in the early morning of the next day and a half, two armies, Captain Jie and Captain Cao from Zhengzhou, led by Marshal Niu Gao Then, they suddenly surrounded Baisha Town. In just a few hours, Li Chengyi's army was severely defeated! Even Li Cheng himself had his legs broken and was captured in front of the formation!"
Hu Jiaoxiu said hurriedly: "Liu Lin has tens of thousands of troops, and Li Cheng is a powerful general for a while. Our army won in just one or two days?"
Hu Sanlang said with a smile: "What the officials don't know is that our army now has a sharp weapon called artillery. When a cannon is fired, the mountains collapse and the ground breaks apart! Then Liu Yu's army lined up, and the artillery here hit him together. , How can we resist the enemy? In the blink of an eye, tens of thousands of troops were reduced to powder!"
Hu Jiaoxiu looked at Zheng Chen and said, "I have never heard of such a magical weapon. I wonder who in the Jie Commander Army made it?"
Hu Sanlang said: "This must be an extremely confidential matter, how can I know?"
Hu Jiaoxiu nodded, politely asked Hu Sanlang for a drink, and asked about the details of the war.
