Fenghou

Zhao Gou took a few steps with his hands behind his back and asked, "Mr. Zhang, what is the friendship between Wu Ling and Chen Qing?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, they are all generals of the Western Army. The Wu brothers and Chen Qing have good personal friendships, but Wu Ling is a person who sticks to principles and will never betray the interests of the court for personal friendship!"

"will not!"

Zhao Gou sneered and said, "If Liu Guangshi was in charge of Bashu, do you think he would go to Xicheng County to negotiate with Chen Qing? Do you think he would accept only a symbolic 1000 people stationed in Nanzheng?"

Zhang Jun was speechless for a moment. If it was Liu Guangshi, Chen Qing would probably not pay attention to him at all.

At this time, Qin Hui said: "I feel that what Zhang Xianggong said just now is very correct. Wu Yu is just a general and has no overall view, so he doesn't know the court's attitude towards Chen Qing. I don't suspect that Wu Yu and Chen Qing have colluded. , I also believe that he is loyal to the imperial court, but his ability is limited, unable to deal with the current complicated situation, I believe that the civil servants should still be in charge of the overall military and political affairs of Bashu."

Zhang Jun suddenly had a realization in his mind that it was true that both Zhu Shengfei and Qin Hui wanted to depose Wu Lin, but they disagreed on the appointment of new officials. Most of Zhu Shengfei's impeachment letter criticized Wu Lin and Chen Hui. Qing colluded with each other to replace Liu Guangshi, who had a bad relationship with Chen Qing.

But Qin Hui was a bit smarter. On the one hand, he agreed with his evaluation of Wu Ling and affirmed Wu Ling’s loyalty to the imperial court, but he also used his lack of ability and lack of overall perspective to explain the matter. Finally, he showed his flaws and let the civil servant take up the post in Sichuan. Xuan Fu envoy, then he must be the civil servant recommended by Qin Hui.

Qin Hui and Empress Dowager Wei have different interests, and they are both competing for control of Bashu. Thinking of this, Zhang Jun thought, anyway, Wu Lin can no longer stay in Bashu, so he might as well support Qin Hui and stir up conflicts between Qin Hui and Queen Mother Wei .

More importantly, after Chen Qing's incident, the officials would never accept the officials recommended by him again, so it would be in his own interest to simply use this incident to stir up conflicts between Qin Hui and Queen Mother Wei.

Zhang Jun had a plan in mind, and he bowed and said, "Your Majesty, since Shaanxi Road has been taken back by Chen Qing, the danger in Bashu has also been lifted, and my ministers also support the appointment of civil servants as Xuanfu envoys, and Wu Ling can be transferred to Jianghuai to fight against gold .”

Zhao Gou nodded, "Who do you think is more suitable to go to Sichuan?"

Qin Hui hurriedly said: "My minister recommends Li Hui, the transshipment envoy of Eastern Zhejiang, as the Xuanfu envoy of Sichuan."

Li Hui was the former privy secretary. He was dismissed because of the defeat of the Jianghuai army. He was recommended by Qin Hui as the transshipment envoy to the east of Zhejiang. Li Hui was grateful and became Qin Hui's party from then on.

Zhao Gou turned his gaze to Zhang Jun again, and Zhang Jun nodded, "Li Hui also has experience in commanding troops and has a gentle personality. He is indeed the right candidate."

"Then let Li go back!"

……

Empress Dowager Wei has been waiting for Liu Guangshi's return to Bashu. She planned to let Liu Guangshi go to Jianghuai to fight, but Liu Guangshi refused to obey the order on the pretext of training recruits. In the end, she had to let Han Shizhong cooperate with Yue Fei to attack Li Cheng from the east. army.

Liu Guangshi still stayed on the south bank of the Yangtze River for defense, but Empress Dowager Wei still hoped that Liu Guangshi would go to Bashu, so that she could control the money and grain of Bashu through Liu Guangshi, and she would have more say in the court.

But why did Empress Dowager Wei not expect that after Zhu Shengfei impeached Wu Ling, it was Li Hui who was appointed as the Xuanfu envoy of Sichuan in the end, which almost drove Empress Wei crazy.

"It's useless, Ai's family values ​​him so much, but he can't even do such a small thing? Does he still have the face to explain to Ai's family?"

A liaison eunuch tremblingly said: "Zhu Xianggong said that he has no chance to mention Liu Guangshi to Bashu, and should have discussed the candidate first in the political affairs hall, but Qin Xianggong broke the rules and nominated Li Hui first, and the officials directly agreed. "

Empress Wei' Bang! ' She slapped her palm on the table, and even though it hurt, she couldn't restrain her inner anger. She gritted her teeth and said to herself: "What a Qin Hui, Ai's family planted a tree, and you come to pick the fruit. Just wait and see, Aijia will make you look good!"

……

In front of Jianmen Pass, a huge procession consisting of thousands of camels is marching towards Jianmen Pass. The camels are loaded with [-] sheepskins. Each group of two camels is taken care of by one assistant. There are [-] assistants in total. , the number of people is a little bit more, but it doesn't matter.

Among all the goods in Northwest China, sheepskins are the most popular. The winter in Bashu is cold and difficult, so the demand for sheepskins arises as the times require. Shaanxi Road Commercial Bank organizes several batches of sheepskins to go south to earn huge profits. At the same time, it also buys a lot of cloth and tea cakes. , brown sugar and jerky go north.

This time it was the fifth batch of camel caravans. The head of the caravan was Wang Qun. He was responsible for transporting the goods to Zizhou, and then to the north.

But Wang Qun has another hidden mission, which is to secretly send the army to Bashu. His team has 500 men. Once they enter Bashu, they will never come back. The [-] people will stay in Zitong County. As they went south again and again, the troops that flowed into Bashu accumulated less and became more, preparing for the internal and external cooperation to seize the Jinniu Road.

At this time, it was golden autumn in October, and one month had passed since Chen Qing and Wu Ling met. Wu Ling had been transferred to Jianghuai by the imperial court to serve as the military envoy of Xuyi.

At present, Li Qiong, the deputy general of Bashu, is temporarily responsible for the safety of Bashu.

With resentment in her heart, Li Qiong drank her sorrows all day long, ignored the army, and relaxed her control over the army. At night, tens of thousands of soldiers came out in twos and threes to rob houses, steal property, block roads, and rape women. It happened from time to time. For a while, the people in the northern states of Bashu were full of dissatisfaction, and the government had no way to do anything. Even the county government of Yongtai County, Tongchuan Prefecture, was retaliated by the soldiers for interfering with the soldiers' robbery, and set fire to it.

Without the constraints from the above, Jinniu Road has also become a place where the guards make their fortunes, desperately exploiting the caravans, even Chen Qing's official caravans have to pay money to pass the customs, and there will be no less money.

However, it is also because money is not recognized, and the checkpoints along Jinniu Road are also obviously relaxed. Unlike Wu Ling’s strict search at that time, the current search has become a kind of difficulty. Passage is also allowed at night.

Today's guard on duty is called Pan Ping, who is the commander under Li Qiong's tent. He is drinking and listening to music with two prostitutes in his arms. run outside.

Everyone knows that the Shaanxi Luguan caravan is a fat sheep, they spend a lot of money and give generously. They can earn at least 100 taels of silver once, which is equivalent to [-] guan!After a few more visits, they have all made a fortune. As for any conflicts between Chen Qing and the court, it's none of their business.

At this time, Wang Qun's camel team had already arrived at the bottom of Jianmen Pass, but saw Pan Ping, the other party's chief general, leading dozens of soldiers to welcome them out.

"It turns out that General Pan is on duty today!" Wang Qun clasped his fists and saluted with a smile.

Pan Ping laughed dryly, "It's getting dark, and Steward Wang is in a hurry, why don't we get things done sooner, and I'll let Steward Wang pass the test, how about it?"

Wang Qun chuckled, "Is it still the old rules?"

"No! Double this time."

"Why is this?"

Pan Ping took out a sign and said with a smile: "It's not safe along the way. This is a safe card issued by my family, General Li. With this sign, you will not be harassed along the way. The money does not belong to me."

Wang Qun didn't bother with the other party. His goods were special this time, and he had to pass the customs as soon as possible. He took a cloth bag and handed it to Pan Ping, "200 taels, if you want more, I'll go back!"

Pan Ping took the money overjoyed, and said with a shameless smile: "Everyone follows the rules and won't ask for more!"

He waved his hand, "Open and close the door!"

A thousand camels marched through Jianmen Pass.

Chapter 574 Gathering Soldiers

Li Qiong's signboard was really useful. The camel team went all the way south, and with this iron signboard, they were allowed to pass through all the checkpoints without embarrassing them.

Two days later, the team arrived in Zitong County and came to the warehouse by the river.

Chengji County has always rented two granaries here, and now it has rented almost all the warehouses, which are specially used for transferring materials.

There is a wall around the warehouse, and there are a thousand Xihe Road soldiers guarding here. This is an agreement reached between Chen Qing and Li Qiong. Wu Ling is too principled, and Chen Qing's soldiers are not allowed to enter Bashu Strict search and strict registration, even every caravan entering Bashu has to register the number of people, and check the number of people when they leave Jianmen Pass, so that there is no chance of sending soldiers into Bashu.

But Li Qiong was completely different. He canceled all the restrictions of Wu Ling, so that Chen Qing could not only send [-] troops to Zitong County to protect the warehouse, but also use caravans to import troops to Bashu. In just half a month, he was able to Having secretly imported [-] troops into Bashu, plus [-] troops guarding the warehouse, Chen Qing has already deployed [-] troops in Longqing Mansion.

Wang Qun asked his men to unload the goods on the camel team and send them directly to the warehouse.

At this time, Liu Qiong rushed over after hearing the news. As the leader of the five thousand soldiers, he arrived in Zitong County in the first batch.

Wang Qun bowed and saluted, "See General Liu!"

Liu Qiong waved her hand, "You're welcome, where is the letter from Du Tong?"

Wang Qun took out a letter from Chen Qing and handed it to Liu Qiong. Liu Qiong quickly opened it and read it carefully. The attack time was set on October [-]th, that is, five days later, when Chen Qing would personally lead an elite army of [-] to go south.

After reading the letter, Liu Qiong asked again, "Did you bring the armor?"

Wang Qun nodded, "I brought them all!"

Liu Qiong then asked the soldiers to open the cargo bags one by one. The sheepskin in the cargo bag was mixed with armor. The helmet was also sewn with double-layer cowhide and covered with iron pieces. The defense ability was no worse than ordinary iron helmets.

A total of [-] sets of armor, as for their weapons have already arrived, spears, shields, knives and crossbows, as well as kerosene and gunpowder, and even a dozen small trebuchets, which were mixed with a batch of furniture and transported to Bashu .

"Ship immediately!"

Liu Qiong shouted to the [-] fellows again: "Everyone go to the pier and get on the boat!"

Five hundred men carried the armor onto the boat, and they also boarded the boat, heading for a large manor more than ten miles away...

The manor Liu Qiong bought is called Qingshan Manor, which covers an area of ​​[-] mu, half of which is occupied by a hill. Currently, [-] elite soldiers are hiding in the manor.

Of course, it is impossible for the 4000 people stationed in the manor not to be known by the locals. In order to prevent risks, Chen Qing used Li Jiong's contacts to buy all the officials in Zitong County, ensuring that the secrets of the [-] soldiers would not be leaked.

The operation of the five thousand troops in Bashu this time was still carried out by Liu Qiong and Tang Qian. The two cooperated many times when dealing with the Xixia army. Commander, there is a commander in the middle.

Liu Qiong rode into the manor. There was no arable land in the manor, almost all trees, surrounded by high walls, and a deep trench about [-] feet wide was dug inside the forest. Sentinels and sentry cavalry were built around it. A large grassland, and then a hill, five hundred tents were set up at the foot of the hill, and camp fences were built.

When Liu Qiong came to the big tent, Tang Qian rushed over immediately, "General Liu, do you have any news from Dutong?"

Liu Qiong nodded, "The operation will take place on October [-]th, and there are still five days left. We have to start preparing."

"But the armor hasn't arrived yet!"

"The armor has arrived, right by the river, and your five hundred men have also arrived."

Tang Qian was overjoyed. If he wanted to become a pioneer, he must have capable men, but none of his men had arrived yet, which really made him anxious. Looking forward to the stars and the moon, they finally came.

"I'm going to see them!"

Just as Tang Qian was about to leave, Liu Qiong stopped him with a smile, "I just got an important piece of information and I need to discuss it with you. I have arranged for your subordinates to take them to dinner and rest first."

Tang Qian sat down again, Liu Qiong spread out the map, pointed to a pass in the south of Jianmen Pass and said, "This is Jinniu Fortress, which stores a large amount of kerosene and gunpowder. It was stored here when Wu Yan was guarding Jianmen Pass. Jianmenguan, all the rest of the fire oil and gunpowder are stored here, I know what I am most worried about?"

"Burning the plank road!" Tang Qian blurted out.

After passing Jianmen Pass, there is a Baili Mountain Road, some of which are extremely difficult and dangerous, and plank roads have been built. If a fire burns the plank road, even if Jianmen Pass is captured, it will not be possible to walk through Dajian Mountain.

In addition, the mountain road is rugged and narrow. Wu Ling built five checkpoints at the dangerous place south of Jianmenguan. It's not impossible, but it will definitely pay a heavy price in casualties.

This was the main reason why Chen Qing had to send an army to the south to cooperate with the main force, to control the Baili Mountain Road, especially the plank road, to prevent Li Qiong's army from burning down the plank road when they retreated.

Liu Qiong tapped the map lightly, "So I think I must send a team to the Golden Bull Castle first to seize the warehouse of the Golden Bull Castle."

"Let me go!"

Liu Qiong shook her head, "The Golden Bull Fort is only the first checkpoint, and there are four more checkpoints behind it, and that is your task."

Tang Qian thought for a while and said, "Then let Yang Rui go. He is bold and cautious, has excellent martial arts skills, especially his archery skills, and he will definitely be able to do things well!"

Liu Qiong was silent for a moment before agreeing, "Then invite him over, I want to explain something!"

……

At this time, Chen Qing personally led an elite army of [-] troops into Jinniu Road. At present, the [-] soldiers stationed by Wu Lin in Nanzheng County have withdrawn to Bashu. , the thousand troops must be withdrawn.

Li Qiong didn't care about stationing troops in Hanzhong, so that Hanzhong no longer had a single soldier of the imperial army, and Chen Qing didn't have to worry about being cut off.

There is still a long way from Hanzhong to Jianmen Pass. In fact, this section is the most difficult road on the Jinniu Road. More than [-]% of the plank roads are distributed on the mountain roads that are hundreds of miles long.

At present, the north of Jianmen Pass is controlled by Chen Qing’s army. This is also the place where Wu Ling is very dissatisfied with Chen Qing. Wu Ling repeatedly asked the two sides to use Xicheng County as the boundary and return the Jinniu Road to him, but Chen Qing flatly refused. up.

It is only to blame that Liu Guangshi retreated too embarrassingly, and lost all the dangerous passes in front of him, but Chen Qing completely inherited the fruits of victory of Jin Bing.

In fact, Chen Qing still has [-] troops stationed in Miantu County in the middle of Jinniu Road, guarding the dangerous Niutou Mountain and Jiameng Pass. How could Chen Qing give up these dangerous places to Wu Ling?

Soon after entering the Jinniu Road, you will come to Wuding Gorge. It is a relatively difficult and dangerous section in the entire Jinniu Road. You have to pass through the extremely narrow Tianti Mountain Road, which only allows one person to pass, then climb up the mountain, and then dive down from the top of the mountain.

Li Bai wrote it here, 'The earth collapsed and destroyed the strong men to death, and then the ladders and stone stacks were connected.On the top is the high mark of the six dragons returning to the sun, and on the bottom there is the rushing and turning back to Sichuan'.

Although Wuding Gorge is a short-cut road, but this road can not take luggage, the army and caravans will not go here, but take the Jialing Road to the west.

After crossing the Jialing River and Yangping Pass, the road will be much smoother, and you can go all the way south to Miantu County. Although the road is a long detour, Chen Qing has no choice, and his army can only take the Jialing Road.

Eight days later, [-] troops arrived in Miangu County. Miangu County is a middle county. Both Wanyan Wushu and Wanyan Helisa arranged the logistics for attacking Jianmen Pass here. Tens of thousands of grains and a large number of tents were seized here.

The food and supplies were not transported away, and this place still became the midway supply place for Chen Qing's army, and two thousand troops were stationed in Miantu County.

An army of [-] troops stationed outside Miantu County. On the river beach dozens of miles south of Miantu County is the famous Jiameng Pass, which can be used as a battlefield. However, Jiameng Pass was severely damaged by Wanyan Wushu and needed to be repaired.

Going further south is Eagle Rock. The mountain where Eagle Rock is located is called Niutou Mountain. The pass under Eagle Rock is actually the famous Tianxiong Pass, which was also destroyed when Wanyan Wushu attacked Bashu.

Later, Wanyan Helisa rebuilt a reverse pass in the same place and renamed it Eagle Pass, also known as Yingyan Pass, but it was also demolished by Chen Qing.

Not far from Yingyan Pass is Jianmen Pass. Today is October [-]th, one day before the time agreed upon by both parties.

October [-]th is the day when the two sides agreed to attack Jianmen Pass. Of course, Liu Qiong's army must move ahead of time.

At dusk, a caravan arrived at Jinniu Fort. The caravan was led by Yang Rui, with [-] camels and [-] of the most elite scouts as assistants.

Jinniu Fort is the first checkpoint going south from Jianmenguan. The terrain here is relatively open. It is actually composed of two parts. One is the Jinniubao checkpoint. There is a long slope to the north of the checkpoint. The checkpoint is condescending, easy to defend and difficult to attack. , As long as a large number of rolling logs and stones are prepared, it is almost impossible for the army on the slope to attack.

The other is the Jinniubao post station, which is about a few hundred steps away from the checkpoint. The merchants were originally allowed to rest here, otherwise it would be dangerous to walk the mountain road at night.

However, Wu Ling transformed the post station into a warehouse of kerosene and gunpowder, and stationed hundreds of soldiers here, so merchants were strictly prohibited from resting here to ensure the safety of important warehouses.

If Wu Ling was still in Bashu, there would be no chance of capturing Jinniu Fort and Jianmen Pass, but now that Wu Lin is gone, the commercial value of Jinniu Fort will be re-emphasized. As long as you have money, everything is easy to talk about.

Chapter 575 Broken Sword

Yang Rui bargained and finally got the qualification to spend the night in Jinniu Fort at the price of a camel. Yang Rui added another [-] guan.

They were stationed in the open space outside the warehouse. Five hundred camels lay down on the spot, and the men unloaded the goods. Their goods were rather miscellaneous, with everything, even hundreds of thick bamboo tubes one foot long. They explained It was sold to the Qiang people. The Qiang herdsmen like this kind of bamboo tube, which can hold water and salt, and when they encounter wolves at night, they can burn it as firecrackers. A dozen defenders nodded after hearing this, saying that they have learned a lot.

It was not yet dark, two grooms came up and asked, "Which one of you is the leader?"

Yang Rui came up and said, "I am!"

The head groom said: "We have several kinds of fodder, which is so bad that it doesn't cost any money, but it has been stored for too long. I am worried that your camels will have diarrhea after eating it."

"How about something better?"

"If it's better, you need to add another [-] pennies."

Yang Rui sneered in his heart, these bastards regarded themselves as fat sheep, and everyone wanted to grab a handful of wool.

"To tell you the truth, I really don't have any money, so it's going to be worse!"