Hello Chang’an

There is also a charcoal fire burning in the tent. The young man has neat buns, dark eyebrows, and a layer of light blue stubble on his chiseled jaw. He is wearing a thick dark blue cloak, which makes his figure more straight.

Chang Sui'an stepped forward and handed a letter with both hands: "Here is a secret letter. Please read it."

When Cui Jing took it, Chang Sui Anshi stepped back a few steps, took off the heavy hat on his head, held it in one hand, and waited on one side.

Cui Jing showed the letter to the lantern, and first glanced at the place where the name was written on the lower left. She saw the three characters "Wei Shuyi" written on it.

After seeing that the handwriting and private seal were no different, Cui Jing just read the contents of the letter.

Wei Shuyi and his entourage of imperial envoys, escorted by 500 imperial troops, set out from the capital. It took nearly twenty days before they crossed Mount Tai and headed for Qingzhou.

This letter was written by Wei Shuyi when he left the boundary of Mount Tai. Mount Tai was about four hundred miles away from Youzhou where Cui Jing was at this time, and it took two days for a quick horse to deliver the letter.

Wei Shuyi wrote in the letter that he did not want to continue traveling north.

To go north, you need to take the land route along the Bohai coast and bypass the entire Bohai Sea to reach the Andong Protectorate. On the way, you need to pass Jizhou and Yingzhou on the north side. As we all know, These two states are now occupied by Kangding Mountain and Mohe.

On this road, although some Sheng troops were stationed at several places along the coast, the coast was empty and it was cold winter, so there was no need for heavy guarding, so the force was relatively weak.

Especially when he crossed paths with Yingzhou, it was not an exaggeration to say that he was gambling his life. Yingzhou was the home of Kangding Mountain, and the risks involved were so great that Wei Shuyi felt that this road was twinned with Huangquan Road.

So Wei Shuyi decisively gave up the option of going north and detouring around the Bohai Sea.

He wanted to go straight to the east and take the waterway at the Dengzhou port. Opposite Dengzhou was the Andong Protectorate. The two were separated by less than a hundred miles of waterway. This water area was the junction of the Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea.

He has asked people to investigate and inquire. Although there is sea ice blocking the way this winter, most of it is broken ice. As long as at least three strong enough ships are seconded in Dengzhou, and the Dengzhou navy escorts, the journey is less than a hundred miles away. Even if we travel slowly by sea, we will definitely reach the other shore in two or three days.

In this way, in addition to avoiding most of the dangers to the north, it can also be regarded as a shortcut, which is equivalent to traveling straight across the waterway all the way east.

Opposite is the Andong Protectorate's Mansion, and across the Yalu River, you will arrive at the door of Dongluo's house.

At first glance, it seems that the difficulty of this road lies only in the difficult and dangerous sea route of less than a hundred miles. However, Wei Shuyi and his party were not many people. They had experienced navymen and prepared several emergency boats. As long as they observed the wind direction in advance, If you don't encounter big storms, you won't make big mistakes.

But if that was the case, Wei Shuyi would not have written to Cui Jing specifically. He sent a letter to Youzhou, obviously not to tell Cui Jing, "I can't wait for Youzhou, so there is no need to wait."

After all, Cui Jing had no intention of waiting for him to come over to reminisce about old times - Wei Shuyi had always been very self-aware of this unrecognized friendship.

Wei Shuyi wrote this letter to ask for help.

Cui Jing was familiar with the surrounding terrain and had made a judgment in her mind before seeing the rest of the letter.

Even though he is rebellious and has an arrogance that cannot be removed from his bones, Cui Jing has never been a sluggish person when it comes to business matters.

After a moment, he wrote a brief reply and asked people to send it to Dengzhou first - Wei Shuyi sent the letter two days ago. Calculating the distance, his reply could be delivered before Wei Shuyi and his party boarded the ship in Dengzhou.

Afterwards, Cui Jing summoned Deputy General Yu and ordered him to order a thousand light cavalry and set off after dawn.

Vice General Yu agreed and immediately went to prepare troops.

After seeing that Cui Jing had arranged the matter properly, Chang Sui An, who had been waiting beside him, said: "Grand Governor, today I heard the news from the scouts that the Kangding Mountain troops are stationary in Jizhou. I don't expect to dare to move easily in the short term. Have you attacked Youzhou?"

After the news spread that Cui Jing led his troops to Youzhou for support, everyone in Kangding Mountain did not dare to act rashly again, and was waiting and discussing with the counselors.

"Kangding Mountain may soon know that I only led 30,000 Xuance troops here -" Cui Jing said: "Including the troops previously deployed by the imperial court and the Youzhou garrison, there are a total of 90,000 people. And Kangding Mountain has elite troops. Thirty-seven thousand people, and more than 50,000 Mohe cavalry, are as strong as our army."

Therefore, Mount Kangding is destined not to wait and see for too long, and the ambitious Mohe will not allow Mount Kangding to wait and see for too long.

Therefore there should be no slacking off.

The reason why he led 30,000 Xuance troops here was not the Holy Will, but Cui Jing's own decision.

For more than a year, he led 80,000 Xuance troops to garrison the northern border, station troops and build border defenses. Although he did not relax for half a day, the northern border's defense line facing Beidi was extremely long, stretching almost to cover the entire northern part of Dasheng. The transfer of all Xuance's troops may put the Northern Territory in danger.

At this juncture, he must not let anything happen in the north. If the Beidi cavalry were allowed to enter the territory of Dasheng, the chaos would be even more difficult to stop than Mount Kangding.

Cui Jing did not want to care about one thing and lose the other. After weighing the situation, he decided to lead 30,000 troops here.

In the north, marching quickly in winter is very risky. In order to prevent Youzhou from falling, his soldiers rushed all the way. Nearly a thousand people fell ill due to the harsh cold weather on the way. While watching Kangding Mountain, they were also recuperating. When accumulating strength.

At this moment, he needs to defend the strategic location of Youzhou first, and then try to get back the two lost states.

Cui Jing was by no means a talkative person on weekdays, but when he had the slightest chance, he would always analyze the pros and cons of the war situation with Chang Sui'an - he promised Chang Sui Ning that he would seriously teach and protect her brother.

Chang Sui'an is very studious and often studies military formations in private. He never relies on his status in the army. He is not afraid of hardship and is frank and sincere in his dealings with others. He has an approachable aura about him, which makes him very popular.

After Cui Jing analyzed the current battle situation and terrain on the sand table, Chang Sui'an listened carefully and asked a few more questions, which Cui Jing patiently answered.

Finally, Chang Sui'an said: "Although Jizhou is only more than a hundred miles away from Youzhou, the road is mostly covered with ice and snow. The New Year will be in more than ten days. They should not dare to launch troops rashly before this year."

Cui Jing: "This is common sense, but don't be careless."

Chang Sui An nodded solemnly, then hesitated for a moment before trying to say: "Grand Governor, Ning Ning is in Dongluo at the moment. I don't think she will return to Jiangdu before next year. I think..."

"Want to go to Dongluo?"

"No, it's not!" Chang Sui'an shook his head quickly. In the current war, is he the kind of person who leaves his post without permission and ignores the importance?

"I was thinking, has anyone gone to the east recently to investigate? If so, can someone send a letter to Dongluo so that it can be delivered to Ning Ning before the New Year... If it's inconvenient, it's okay! "

Cui Jing nodded without much hesitation.

This place is different from the northern border. Messengers going to Dongluo must avoid the Kangding Mountain area. If they go alone for a letter, they may be suspected of hurting the soldiers. Knowing that Cui Jing has always cherished his soldiers, this is also The reason for Chang Sui'an's hesitation.

But Vice General Yu and others happened to be going to the vicinity of Dongluo, so delivering the letter became a matter of course.

Seeing Cui Jing agree, Chang Sui'an was overjoyed.

Although they are still separated by the Bohai Sea, he has not been so close to his sister for a long time, and he has not exchanged letters with her for at least four or five months!

"Go back and write a letter. You can send it before dawn."

As soon as Cui Jing finished speaking, Chang Sui'an took out a letter from his arms.

Chang Sui'an smiled: "I wrote it a few days ago!" Cui Jing took the letter and felt that the letter was quite thick.

Chang Sui'an's letter spanned five pieces of paper and took three days to write. Her emotions were different every day when she wrote the letter.

One is crying about my father's injury; one is writing excitedly about my sister's great victory; one is seriously telling me about my current situation in the past few months; one is full of longing, and the other is all about expressing my gratitude to Governor Cui. of reverence and gratitude.

At this moment, seeing Governor Cui looking at his surprisingly thick letter, Chang Sui'an scratched his head in embarrassment and said in confusion: "My subordinates talk too much nonsense..."

Cui Jing: "...it's okay."

After Chang Sui'an left, Cui Jing also wrote a letter.

Different from when he wrote back to Wei Shuyi just now, he changed to a better pen and even carefully selected a few pieces of the most neatly cut letter paper.

Like many others, he also congratulated Chang Sui Ning on his victory against the Japanese at the beginning of writing.

But he is different from many people. He is not only happy with Chang Sui Ning, but more worried about Chang Sui Ning's fatigue after the war. He can empathize with it. This fatigue is not only external, but also in his heart.

He didn't express any direct words of relief. Useless words of relief would only arouse more sadness. He just said -

[In the middle of winter, when the first year of life is coming to an end, it is the time when all things are gathered together. You have made many extraordinary achievements this year. During this cold winter, you should also gather your heart and strength, eat and rest with peace of mind, listen to the music of harmony, often allow your mind to relax, and hibernate, waiting for the arrival of spring next year, and then be with all things. Let's prosper together. 】

He started another line and told her that the world is vast and the mountains and rivers are swaying, but he is with her. Even though he has nothing worth mentioning, with him stationed across the sea in Youzhou, she doesn't have to worry about the war here. , he will defend Youzhou and take back Jizhou and Yingzhou as soon as possible.

At the end, remembering that she had addressed her as Ling'an in her last letter, the young man's originally noble and cold eyebrows softened a bit, and he carefully wrote the words "Cui Ling'an" with his pen.

Cui Jing put down her pen, folded the letter carefully, put it into the envelope, and sealed it herself. Then Deputy General Yu went into the tent to ask for an audience: "Grand Governor, everything has been arranged. We just need to leave at dawn!"

"Traveling in the harsh winter is not easy, so be careful on this trip."

Vice General Yu responded seriously: "Yes, please don't worry, Commander-in-Chief!"

Cui Jing: "In addition, you can give these two letters to them when the time comes and ask them to take them to Dongluo and forward them to Governor Chang."

Vice General Yu's eyes lit up and he quickly stepped forward to take it.

Although this letter from Cui Jing is not as thick as the regular envelope, it should not be underestimated. When Vice General Yu left with these two letters in his hands, he felt that this was just a letter delivered by someone. If he replaced it with a carrier pigeon, he was afraid that It's impossible to carry it even if you're exhausted, so at least you have to hire a vulture or something.

…

Knowing that Da Sheng had sent an envoy, and to ensure that the envoy had enough time to travel in winter, the date of Jin Chengyuan's accession to the throne was finally decided on the latest date - the 28th day of the twelfth lunar month - over several days after repeated discussions among Dongluo officials. , it’s almost the New Year’s Eve.

Time soon came to the 22nd day of the twelfth lunar month. There were only six days left before Jin Chengyuan ascended the throne, but there was still no news of the arrival of Dasheng's envoy.

Dongluo officials were inevitably a little anxious.

The arrangements for Yiying's enthronement have already been completed, and all he has to do is wait for Dasheng's envoys.

If the envoys could not arrive in time, the new king's enthronement ceremony had already been announced to Dongluo, and it would be difficult to postpone it any longer. However, in this case, they were afraid that the grand event would think that Dongluo was being neglected and looked down upon.

There was nothing they could do, who made their damned short-lived new king make a mistake in the first place?

At the same time, the officials in Dongluo were also worried about whether this group of envoys would encounter any mishaps along the way. The rebellion of Mohe and Kangding Mountain had a wide range of influence.

The envoys of a country often represent the monarch of a country and have extraordinary significance. They can easily attract the attention of traitors and enemies.

Jin Chengyuan was also a little uneasy, so he sent a military guard to prepare for leaving the country to respond to the investigation.

Chang Suining knew about this, found Jin Chengyuan, and said, "I will also go together. I will ask your country's military guards to accompany me. It will be more convenient when crossing the border."

To leave the country and set foot in the territory of Dasheng, the Dongluo military guards need to obtain permission from the Anton Protectorate and issue customs clearance documents. At this juncture, the Anton Protectorate is in a state of distress due to the Kangdingshan rebellion, so the issuance of documents may be delayed.

But with Chang Sui Ning here, it will be much simpler.

Jin Chengyuan nodded: "In this case, I will trouble the governor Chang to go there in person."

But I heard Chang Sui Ning say: "I also wanted to go out."

She has been recuperating in Dongluo for more than half a month. During this half month, she learned a lot of information about Mount Kangding and Mohe through Meng Lie's hidden stake in the northeast.

In the past two days, she made a decision.

This trip left Dongluo, and I happened to be able to pick up Wei Shuyi and others along the way.

On that day, Chang Suining ordered a thousand confidants and set out with a group of Dongluo sergeants.

…

Wei Shuyi and his ministers finally landed safely ashore after being bumpy on the sea for several days.

After getting off the boat, some officials were a little unsteady when walking.

There were many of them who were crossing the sea by boat for the first time. Although they only floated for a few days, it was enough for them to vomit yellow bile. However, the water here was dripping and turned into ice. The top part had not finished vomiting, but the bottom part had already begun to freeze. Frost…

Wu Siqing was also retching, and Wu Chunbai, who was pretending to be a follower and lost a lot of weight, patted his father's back.

Since leaving Beijing, their journey took too long because what they saw along the way was far more difficult than they imagined.

If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, Wu Chunbai would never have imagined that the scene outside had become such a mess.

They encountered soldiers and horses suppressing the rebels, and they also encountered refugees blocking the road to complain. One day, she even saw two corpses, one large and one small, lying in the withered grass beside the official road. She did not know whether they were starved. Die or freeze to death.

Wu Chunbai also felt like retching, but it was not because of the boat ride, but because of the painful images that constantly hit her in her mind, making her feel helpless and dizzy in this cold place.

Not only Wu Chunbai, but Song Xian and others were also affected too much. Tan Li, who was usually optimistic and open-minded, was silent most of the time.

During this trip eastward, they all felt unprecedentedly confused, even powerless and frustrated.

However, the dangerous situation did not leave them much time to remain confused. Not long after disembarking, they encountered a siege. (End of chapter)