Fenghou

"Exactly, we still have two days."

"Let's go back to the county first!"

Chen Qing immediately led everyone back to Yingli County. He needed to carefully consider the opponent's route and various possibilities, and make a perfect plan.

……

In the big tent, Chen Qing spread out the map and said to Zhang Xiao and the generals: "The golden soldiers guarding a million taels of silver must use camels to go east. They have three routes to go. The northern route goes north along the Yellow River, enters The Hetao area of ​​​​the Hetao Army Division entered Datong Mansion from the north, but the commander of the Heishan Army Division was Cao Baohui, Cao Baozong's brother. Since Cao Baozong did not mention it, he would definitely not go north.

The Jin soldiers will also guard against our interception. Although they have [-] cavalry guards, Uyan Puluhun has suffered a big loss in our hands. He will not risk another million taels of silver, so the southern line is also unlikely. Then only the midline is the most suitable. "

Chen Qing pointed to the long strip of grassland between the two large deserts and said: "This is Henan in Xixia, passing through this grassland also enters Dongsheng Prefecture, this is where they came from, if I guessed correctly , they will go to the center line."

Chapter 695 Snow Strike

The central part of the shape of the Yellow River is the Henan area of ​​Xixia, where there are large deserts and Gobi, but between the two large deserts, there is a long and narrow grassland oasis, tens of miles wide from north to south, and about [-] miles long , here is the Hangjin Banner of later generations.

There are more than a dozen nomadic tribes of Xixia living in this grassland, but basically all the young and strong men have joined the army, and only the old and weak women and children are left in these tribes.

This morning, a Jurchen cavalry of ten thousand people escorted thousands of camels slowly on the endless grassland. Found the grass.

Of course, 100 million taels of silver is only 6 catties, and two hundred camels are enough to carry it, but thousands of camels carry not only silver, but also sheepskins, animal skins, medicinal materials, bronze utensils and 30 copper coins. .

These silver materials are basically [-]% of Xixia's official inventory wealth. In order to keep Xixia alive, Xixia dedicated almost all of its inventory to the Kingdom of Jin.

Uyan Puluhun led [-] cavalry to personally guard the wealth. Although Li Kan repeatedly assured him that the Song army would never cross the vast desert to intercept the middle line, Uyan Puluhun was still very cautious. It is declared that there is no travel plan before the spring of next year.

As for the real departure time and route are very top secret, even leaving Xingqing Mansion in the middle of the night, Uyan Puluhun is about to become a frightened bird, the Song Army's powerful infantry formation is in less than two hours. , almost wiped out his entire army, he was really a little scared.

"Captain Wan, will we come back again when we go east this time?" Wanyan Chamu asked.

Wuyan Puluhun sighed softly, "I don't know either, let's see how the court arranges it! To be honest, I don't really want to come back."

Another commander said: "There are rumors that after we leave, civil war will break out in Xixia. It's really worrying!"

Wuyan Pulu said coldly: "At this time, there is still internal strife, and the gods will not be able to save them."

He immediately ordered: "Speed ​​up!"

The long line picked up speed and headed east...

Two days later, the team arrived at the Xixia border, and a mountain range appeared faintly in the distance. Passing through that mountain range is Hedong. When they came, they walked through Xiakou Village, and they walked back through this mountain village as well.

Both sides are still covered with white snow, the snow here is a bit bigger, the snow is half a foot thick, the south is a very low grassy hill, only a few feet high, and the north is still a large grassland, covered with white snow.

The journey was safe and sound, and Jin Bing gradually relaxed his vigilance, and no longer sent spies to inquire ahead. At this time, the team stretched for more than ten miles, but the main reason was that the camel team was relatively long, while the Jin Bing team was relatively neat and dense.

Uyan Puluhun suddenly felt something, he looked at the white snow in the north, he seemed to see the snow moving, he suspected that his eyes were dazzled.

At this moment, more than a thousand soldiers suddenly appeared in the snow outside the white cloth, and they all raised their crossbows and shot at the golden soldiers.

"not good!"

Uyanhun Puluhun reacted very quickly, turned sideways, and hid on the other side of the horse. His horse hissed and fell to the ground, pressing Wuyanhun Puluhun under him. Most of them are arrows from war horses.

The soldiers rescued Uyan Puluhun. He saw that the horse was hit by an arrow in the head, and he fell to the ground and convulsed.

An unprecedented anger exploded in his heart, he raised his head suddenly, and saw more than a thousand soldiers of the Song Army still shooting arrows a hundred paces away, he shouted: "Rush up, and kill them all!" !"

"Woo————" the horn sounded, and four thousand Jurchen cavalry rushed towards more than a thousand crossbowmen a hundred steps away.

More than a thousand crossbowmen turned around and ran wildly. Four thousand cavalrymen were chasing after them. People turned on their backs, dense poisonous nails flew in all directions, screams one after another, and then a fire ignited under their feet, and the fire in the field engulfed four thousand cavalry in an instant.

But this was not enough. Fifty paces ahead, a dense army of Song troops suddenly appeared. There were 2 people, who seemed to emerge from the ground. Everyone wore a white cloak behind them and held a crossbow in their hands. When the arrows were released, more than a thousand crossbowmen were just bait, and they all lay on the ground.

Thousands of arrows from the Song army fired at the thousands of Jurchen cavalry like a storm. Thousands of Jurchen cavalry screamed and fell to the snow in large numbers.

Explosions, fire and strong crossbows all appeared in just ten seconds, and dealt a fatal blow to this cavalry. They were struggling in hell. The horse fell to the ground and was engulfed in flames.

Uyan Puluhun was stunned. At this moment, a low-pitched horn sounded from behind him. When Wuyan Puluhun turned his head, he was frightened out of his wits. On the grassy hill to the south, there appeared overwhelming cavalry. The halberd painted in the sky seems to be Chen Qing.

The commander pointed at Fang Tian's halberd, just like a mountain torrent, thirty thousand elite cavalry rushed down from the grassy hill and entered the Jurchen cavalry ranks...

This was a battle without any suspense. The Song army's [-] cavalry and [-] infantry surrounded and suppressed [-] Jurchen cavalry. The key point was that the Jurchen cavalry was ambushed from the very beginning, and the [-] cavalry was almost wiped out.

How could the remaining [-] cavalry be able to withstand the combined killing of [-] cavalry and [-] infantry? After less than half an hour of fierce fighting, the [-] cavalry suffered more than half of their casualties, and were gradually cut into seven or eight by the Song cavalry and infantry. Block, lost the power of group combat.

Wu Yanhun Pulu's knowledge was not good, and he didn't care about rescuing other companions. He led hundreds of cavalry to break out of the siege, and ran eastward for his life, followed by [-] Song cavalry.

Not long after, hundreds of cavalry rushed to Xiakou Village. Xiakou Village is a canyon more than [-] miles long. The Xixia Army and the Song Army have been facing each other for nearly a hundred years.

The Song Army’s side had been abandoned long ago, and the Xiakou Village on the Xixia side had been guarded for nearly ten years. Xiao Heda also gave up after the rebellion. The canyon entered the river east controlled by Jin Bing.

Wuyanhun Pulu led [-] cavalrymen and rushed through Xiakouzhai Pass City like a gust of wind, and entered the canyon, but after running for less than two miles, there was a sound of clappers in front of him, and random arrows were fired from the front and from both sides. The Jurchen cavalry were caught off guard, and more than two hundred people were shot and killed immediately, and the rest of the soldiers retreated in shock.

Wuyanhun Pulu's heart sank into the abyss, and they were blocked in the canyon. Seeing that there were fewer and fewer soldiers under him, he gritted his teeth and shouted: "Life and death are the battle here, if you want to live, rush over with me. "

The soldiers shouted wildly, and the commander followed them and ran forward to break through, but it was useless. They were surrounded and attacked on three sides, and before they got close, they were shot by dense arrows. Most of them were shot by arrows. He died tragically on the spot.

Song Jun shot two more rounds of bows and arrows, and there were no more standing people and horses.

At the same time, the battle on the snowy field also ended. Two thousand outer scouts killed dozens of Jurchen cavalry who slipped through the net, and the entire army of [-] Jurchen cavalry was wiped out, all of them were killed, and no one survived.

The [-] camels were controlled by the Song army from the very beginning, and they stood quietly aside until the end of the battle.

Three hours later, [-] Song soldiers left quietly, and the snow field returned to silence. There were no corpses to be seen, only patches of bright red blood, showing that a war had broken out here.

At night, the sky began to snow again, and there was a vast expanse of white snow between the sky and the earth, and all traces were covered by heavy snow.

Chapter 696 Mutiny

At noon, in a small tavern, Tuoba Changshi pushed an ingot of five taels of silver in front of Hu Yanlei, and said with a smile: "A friend who is doing big business wants to know some valuable inside information, so he asked me to inquire about it. I'll let my younger brother earn the money!"

Huyanlei looked at Yinzi and said for a while: "Isn't brother joking!"

Tuoba Changshi smiled and said: "To tell you the truth, brother, the other party gave me ten taels of silver, half of each of us."

"Then I will be disrespectful!"

Hu Yanlei picked up the silver, weighed it, and said in a low voice, "Your friend had better stay away from King Jin."

"why would you say so?"

Hu Yanlei looked at both sides and said: "The Son of Heaven has decided to get rid of King Jin."

"No way! They are brothers!"

"There is no brotherhood in front of the throne. For five taels of silver, let me tell you that this news is absolutely accurate. As for how to kill King Jin, if there are still five taels of silver, I can tell you more exciting news." Come out, if it is false news, I will pay you ten times the silver."

How could Tuoba Changshi be reluctant to part with money?The key message must be useful!King Jin has already begun to be dissatisfied with himself.

Tuoba Changshi took out another five taels of silver, and said with a wry smile: "It seems that the ten taels of silver still belong to my brother."

Hu Yanlei smiled, put away the five taels of silver, dipped in the wine and wrote four words on the table, 'The Son of Heaven feigns illness'.

"No way!" Tuoba Changshi was stunned for a moment.

Hu Yanlei sneered, "I told you just now, if the news is false, I will pay you ten times the money."

Tuoba Chang really didn't want to drink anymore, so he found an excuse and returned to the shop. This news is very important, no matter it is true or not, he must send it to King Jin.

A quarter of an hour later, a letter eagle soared into the sky and flew north to Dingzhou.

……

Xingqing Mansion is only about a hundred miles away from Dingzhou. In the afternoon, Jin Wang Li Cha received Tuoba Changshi's eagle letter, and the content inside really surprised him.

'Is the emperor feigning illness?It is for nothing but myself. '

It was only yesterday that he received the emperor's decree, formally ennobling him as a state supervisor, and asking him to return to Xingqing mansion immediately to preside over the government affairs of the court.

The crown prince is still young, and the emperor is seriously ill. It is completely reasonable for him, the emperor's uncle, to be the supervisor of the country. Brother Li Cha is really tempted.

But when Tuoba Changshi's eagle letter came, it really made Brother Li Cha angry. He actually pretended to be sick, and the letter that he was the supervisor of the emperor was a trap, and he wanted to kill himself.

Brother Li Cha didn't fully believe it, he immediately sent an eagle letter to his confidants in Xingqing Mansion, asking him to find out whether the emperor is really sick or just pretending to be sick?

Brother Li Cha immediately canceled his plan to rush to Xingqing Mansion overnight, and waited patiently for news.

In the morning of the next day, Brother Li Cha finally received a reply letter from his confidant from Xingqing Mansion. There were only seven words, 'pretending to be ill is true, with murderous intent'.

This reply made Brother Li Cha feel a kind of hatred that he had never felt before. He had many chances to kill the emperor brother and ascend the throne, but he always thought of brotherhood and couldn't bear to do it. Unexpectedly, his brother would not allow him. Trick him into Xingqing Mansion and kill him.

The emperor no longer cares about brotherhood, so why bother?

Brother Li Cha slowly clenched his teeth, and said to himself: "Since you are going to be the first grader, don't blame me for being the fifteenth grader!"

……

Two days later.

The palace of Xingqing Mansion was shrouded in sudden terror. More than a dozen imperial doctors were tied behind their backs and knelt on the ground, trembling with fear. The palace guards searched the rooms of the eunuchs and maids everywhere. In this hall, everyone is in danger.

A major event happened in the palace today. The emperor Li Qianshun's condition suddenly worsened and his life was dying. The careful guards soon discovered that there were traces of poison in the soup and medicine bowl left by the emperor, which immediately caused an uproar.

Soon, two maids who served the emperor to take medicine committed suicide. Xia Houliang, the head guard who lost his target, went crazy and began to suspect everyone. The eunuchs and maids were interrogated, tortured, and searched one by one.

The ministers gathered all night, and when it was almost dawn, the emperor survived the most dangerous moment, and everyone went back to their homes to rest.

As soon as Cao Baozong returned to the mansion, Hu Yanlei found him, "May I ask the Privy Envoy, what is the current situation of the Son of Heaven?"

Cao Baozong shook his head, "We are doing our best to treat it. Xia Houliang said that the toxicity is temporarily suppressed, and there is no acute attack, but it is only temporarily suppressed. I don't think it will last for a few days."

Hu Yanlei asked again: "Has the poisoner been found?"

Cao Baozong sneered, "Who else is there besides Jin Wang Li Cha? As soon as the Jurchen cavalry left, he started. It's ridiculous that many people still pin their hopes on Han Chang. Fortunately, the general reminded me that Han Chang is Wanyan. Chang's people, once Wan Yanchang supports brother Li Cha, then Han Chang will become the most dangerous enemy."

Hu Yan nodded, "That's why I came to the Privy Councilor. The situation in Xingqing Mansion is too dangerous, and the Privy Councilor must take his family away immediately!"

Cao Baozong was startled, "Shall we leave now?"

"Let's go now, right away. I suspect Brother Li Cha is already on his way to Xingqing Mansion."

After capturing the Xingqing Mansion, Chen Qing still needed a political figure from Xixia to stand up and maintain the situation. This person must not only have a certain prestige in Xixia, but also be loyal to himself. Chen Qing finally chose Cao Baozong.

On the one hand, Cao Baozong is not a member of the party, but a descendant of the Cao family of the Guiyi Army, so he will not feel the pain of the demise of Xixia. On the other hand, Cao Baozong is relatively mediocre and cannot achieve great things. days of captivity.

The third reason is that Cao Baohui, the chief general of the Black Mountain Army, has [-] troops under him, and Chen Qing hopes to recruit him through Cao Baozong.

So Chen Qing sent Huyanlei to Xingqing Mansion just to keep Cao Baozong.

Cao Baozong was flustered, and hurriedly asked his wife and a pair of children to pack up their belongings, and asked his mother to pack up their belongings. Before that, Cao Baozong smuggled his property out of the city several times and sent it to Xiping Mansion.

The belongings had already been packed, his wife, daughter and old mother got into the carriage, Cao Baozong also got on his horse, and left Cao's mansion towards the south gate with more than [-] soldiers.

At this time, although the imperial palace has been sealed off, there is no martial law in the city, and it is still in a normal state, but the city gate is closed as usual, and it is forbidden to go out or enter the city at will.

Relying on the gold medal of his privy envoy, Cao Baozong successfully left the city gate and headed south. Hu Yanlei had already made arrangements. Army-controlled Hetao area.

As soon as Cao Baozong left, Li Kan ordered martial law in the whole city, everyone went home, and no one was allowed to go out, otherwise they would be punished as spies.

Teams of soldiers ran on the street, and the common people went home in fright, and the street became deserted in an instant.

At the south gate, Li Kan angrily reprimanded the generals and soldiers defending the city, "The rule is that no one is allowed to leave the city, how dare you make an exception and let him go?"

The guard lowered his head and argued: "Cao Baozong has a gold medal as a privy envoy, so he can leave the city. It is not against the rules to be humble."

"Bastard! How dare you talk back to me?"

General Li Liangfu persuaded from the side: "A mediocre person like Cao Baozong will leave as soon as he leaves, and it won't affect the overall situation. Why should the prince be angry?"

"I know he can't affect the overall situation, it's just that this bastard usually speaks nicely, but he runs faster than anyone else at critical moments, it's really hateful!"

At this time, a soldier ran over and said: "General Han asked the prince and General Li to discuss military affairs, saying that there is an emergency!"

Li Kan glared at the guard again, "If you dare to let people out of the city, I will want your head!"

"I dare not to be humble!"

Then Li Kan and Li Liangfu rushed to the Jinbing Camp.

Chapter 697 Mutiny

As soon as Li Kan and Li Liangfu arrived at the Jinbing camp, Han Chang asked them, "How many troops do you two have?"

Li Kan hesitated and said, "I still have 9 people in my hands."

"Where's General Li?" Han Chang asked Li Liangfu again.

"There has always been an army of [-] in the underhand."

"That's 11. Including the 14 guards in Xiahouliang's hands, and the [-] Congjun troops here, I have a total of [-] troops!"