Chapter 578: How to repay

In Zhua County, Qizhou, a caravan full of various goods slowly entered the county town. It was not far from the Yellow River. Although it was late autumn in October, the Yellow River had not yet frozen. There were many such caravans in the county town. Most of them wanted to do business with immigrants from Hebei Road. A large number of people from Hebei Road moved south to bring unlimited business opportunities to merchants. They wanted to purchase grain and daily household items. In fact, many of the merchants who were foresighted had already arrived, and now the merchants who arrived were a little late. In addition, many merchants planned to cross the river and go north and continue to look for business opportunities to Hebei Road.

Small merchants gathered in Zhua County, and teams of caravans loaded with goods could be seen everywhere. When the inn was full, merchants looked for private houses for rent. Some keen local merchants rented a large number of roadside houses in advance, and then rented them to caravans coming from other places at a higher price, making a fortune.

The caravan that had just entered the city was not in a hurry. They had responders in the city, and all the food and accommodation had been arranged. They could enter the city calmly. The caravan was large in size, consisting of about a hundred carriages, full of heavy cargo, covered with greasy paper and numbness. No one knew what was loaded on it. Nearly a hundred men accompanying the carriage were escorting the vehicle on both sides of the vehicle. They were all tall, agile, and alert to the surrounding situation with vigilance.

Needless to say, this caravan was sent by An Lushan to various states in eastern Henan Road to purchase sulfur, but this is only one of the three teams. To the east of Henan Road, today's Shandong Peninsula, there are several small sulfur deposits here. Although the output is not large, it is enough for An Lushan to make gunpowder.

The caravan purchased more than 4,000 kilograms of sulfur in Yizhou. On the way back to Youzhou, they needed to cross the Yellow River to go north. Zhua County is the place where the three teams of their three teams meet. As soon as the caravan entered the city gate, more than a dozen responders immediately came up. A man saluted: "The other team has returned, and the ferry is being arranged. However, the storm of the Yellow River in the past two days is too strong and it is difficult to cross the river. We will make every effort to arrange it. As long as the conditions for crossing the river allow, we will cross the river to go north immediately. Please follow us to rest first."

When the businessman leader heard that he could not cross the river for a while, he was a little worried, but he had no choice but to bow and say, "Thank you all, please lead the way!"

More than a dozen responders led the caravan to a large mansion hundreds of steps away.

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Shortly after the caravan entered the city, four small merchants riding horses also appeared at the city gate. They followed the team in front without any rush or slow down. These people were members of the Henan Road Branch of the Neiwei Intelligence Hall. The Henan Road Branch received an order from the Neiwei Intelligence Hall and ordered them to monitor the people who purchased sulfur in various prefectures of Henan Road. These intelligence personnel stared at the caravan in Yizhou and followed them all the way to Zhua County.

At this time, they saw that the other party seemed to have a response, and the place was not far from the Yellow River, and the other party could cross the river at any time. Several intelligence personnel discussed for a while and then walked in separate ways. The two continued to monitor the caravan, and the other two quickly reported the situation to the nearby branch owner.

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Qizhou belongs to Li Guangbi's sphere of influence. Li Guangbi led a 50,000 army to send troops to Henan Road. After defeating the two armies of Ji Guangchen and Xu Shuyi in succession, his army quickly rose to 120,000. Li Qing'an immediately increased his troops to 80,000, bringing his army to 200,000.

Li Guangbi immediately divided the army into three war zones. Li Sheng led 50,000 troops to station the Qizhou front line, General Li Fei Yuanli led 70,000 troops to station the Xuzhou front line, and he himself led 80,000 people to station on the Zhengzhou front line. In this way, the three armies support each other and echo each other.

Li Sheng's army was stationed in five prefectures such as Yun, Ji, Qi, Qing, and Zibo, closely linking the Yellow River, while the commander's tent was located in Licheng County, Qizhou.

That afternoon, two knights rushed from a distance. When they were less than a hundred steps away from the camp gate, the soldiers on the mail tower immediately shouted loudly: "Stop!"

The two knights stopped their horses, raised their hands and shouted, "We have something urgent to ask General Li!"

A officer on duty came out of the camp and came forward and said, "I am the lieutenant on duty in the camp. Who are you? What should I do to find us General Li?"

One of the men in their thirties took out a silver medal and handed it over and said, "We are the Henan Road Intelligence Hall, and we are the head of the branch hall. If you have an urgent matter, please help from General Li!"

The head of the Henan Branch was at least the General of the Central Army, and they were inner guards and had a higher status. The lieutenant on duty did not dare to neglect and hurriedly said: "Please wait, I will report immediately!"

He ran back to report, and after a moment, he came out and said, "Master Niu Tang, my general is welcome!"

Niu Jin turned over and dismounted and followed the captain to the camp.

The commander in the camp was Li Sheng. According to Li Guangbi's deployment, he was responsible for defending Qingzhou and Qizhou front lines. In fact, Li Sheng also had his own ideas. He believed that the Northern Tang army should not passively defend south of the Yellow River. He should enter Hebei when conditions are ripe and trap An Lushan to death in Youzhou. In this way, he could take the initiative in the battle against An Lushan. However, Li Sheng did not write a letter to Li Qing'an. He knew that Li Qing'an would not have expected that Li Qing'an should have thought about it carefully. He only considered it from a military perspective, while Li Qing'an would consider it more politically, which was not something he could ask about.

As a soldier, he must firmly obey the commander's orders, but as an individual, he also hopes that the Tang Dynasty would have a monarch from a military background. Only such a monarch would be kind to the soldiers, understand the glory of the soldiers more, and would never give in to the face of foreign humiliation and resolutely fight back. This is incomparable to the emperors who grew up in the deep palace.

In the past two days, Li Sheng also received an order from Li Guangbi, ordering his army to fully cooperate with the Neiwei Intelligence Hall. For emergency help from the Intelligence Hall, he must provide all his assistance.

Li Guangbi's order was issued the day before yesterday, and today the master of the Neiwei Intelligence Hall came to ask for help in person.

After a moment, the on-duty lieutenant took Niu Jin into the tent, and Niu Jin bowed and said, "Niu Jin, the head of the Henan Road Information Branch, met General Li."

Li Sheng knew that the Henan Road Intelligence Branch was located in Chenliu County, and Niu Jin personally came to Qizhou from Chenliu, indicating that his request for help was a big deal. He hurriedly said, "Lord Niu doesn't have to be polite. If the situation is urgent, please tell me!"

"Thank you for your pleasure, General Li!"

Niu Jin said: "This is the thing. We are ordered by Chang'an General Hall to fully investigate the purchase of sulfur on Henan Road by An Lushan. After several days of investigation, we found that the three caravans sent by An Lushan had purchased tens of thousands of kilograms of sulfur in Qingzhou, Yanzhou and Yizhou. Among them, the two caravans from Yanzhou and Yizhou had already met in Zhua County and were preparing to cross the river north. They had many responders, with more than 500 people. An Lushan's army disguised him. General Li asked General Li to send troops to help us intercept these two groups of people and goods."

Li Sheng frowned and said, "But the wind and waves on the Yellow River these two days are very strong, so it is not easy to cross the river!"

"That's right, so they're waiting in Zhua County, and haven't crossed the river yet. This is our opportunity."

"What about the caravans in Qingzhou? Don't you need my help?" Li Sheng asked again.

"Report to General Li, the caravan in Qingzhou was already drilled by our people when crossing the Ji River, and more than 3,000 kilograms of sulfur sank to the bottom of the river."

"Then the second time they sent someone to buy sulfur? How do you deal with it?" Li Sheng thought it carefully. If he wanted to help him, he had to help him to the end. What he meant was to completely destroy the sulfur mine and cut off An Lushan's supply.

"This... we are going to get a batch of fake sulfur. If An Lushan sends someone to buy it for the second time, we will sell the fake sulfur to him and ask him to use fake sulfur as a thunder. However, we are not ready for this batch of sulfur. Please give strong support to the general!"

Li Sheng laughed, "Okay! I'll send troops to help you now."

Li Sheng immediately ordered five thousand cavalrymen, and he personally led the team and rushed to Zhua County.

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At this time, Zhua County was not just two caravans, but also the five hundred scouts added by An Lushan after the explosion of the gunpowder factory. Now these purchased sulfur are his entire hope. In addition, he also sent one of his own staff to fully command the operation.

The staff member named Luo Qingzheng, who was about forty years old. He was a scholar who defected to An Lushan last year. He was very considerate of the problems and made up for the shortcomings of five hundred scouts who were brave but unscheming.

At this time, more than 7,000 kilograms of sulfur and all the personnel had left Zhua County. They had just received news from Qingzhou that another caravan had already had an accident, and more than 3,000 kilograms of sulfur had fallen to the bottom of the river. Although the news said it was just an accident, Luo Qingzheng still sensitively realized that this would not be an accident. The Ji River was not very wide, and the water surface was calm, so there was no boat that had fallen halfway through the journey. This must have been tampered with people. He also realized that their whereabouts must have been discovered by the Northern Tang Army.

In the night, hundreds of cavalry guarded more than 100 carriages and drove along the official road beside the Yellow River. They wanted to cross the river overnight, but several ship owners refused to cross the river because of the strong wind and waves on the river at night. They refused to cross the river no matter how much they paid. As soon as tomorrow morning, another ship owner was moved and agreed to cross the river. However, his ship was not here. On a pier fifty miles away, there were three large ships in total, with a price of 3,000 guan, and they had to pay in full before boarding the ship. Although this was a hundred times the sky-high price, Luo Qingzheng still agreed immediately. He was willing to transport the sulfur back to Youzhou, and he would spend any money. After crossing the river, he would go back to settle the accounts with the owner.

An hour later, the convoy arrived at the Qibei Ferry. It was a medium-sized ferry. It was very remote. There were not many people crossing the river. There were more than a dozen large ships parked. The night was dark and the wind was high. The dark river surface was surging. The waves hit the shore, and the big ship was undulating. There was no one on the big ship. It had been two days since they could not cross the river. There were only two young men guarding the ship on the dock.

Luo Qingzheng frowned and said to the owner of the ship dissatisfiedly: "You promised me repeatedly that you could cross the river. Now I saw the ship, but what about the crew? Where is your crew?"

The ship owner hurriedly said, "Wait, I'll go find it now."

He ran up and asked the two crew members, "Where are the others?"

The two crew members looked at each other and said, "The others have gone home, and they can't cross the river anyway, so it's okay for everyone to be here."

The shipowner came back and nodded and smiled at Luo Qingzheng, "This master, the crew members have all gone home, but they all live nearby. I will call them here immediately. At most half an hour, the master will wait!"

"Hmph!" Luo Qingzheng snorted heavily and scolded: "Go and go quickly!"

"I'll be back soon!" The shipowner ran into the darkness and disappeared for a moment.

After waiting for about a quarter of an hour, everyone couldn't help it. They sat all over the ground. Luo Qingzheng also sat on a big rock, looking up from time to time, his eyes full of anxiety. After another quarter of an hour, it was already the agreed time, but the owner's shadow could not be seen.

At this time, the captain next to him finally couldn't help it and walked up to him and whispered: "Sir, I'm worried about fraud here!"

"How do you know there is a fraud?"

"I also grew up by the Yellow River. Judging from the current waves, it is very dangerous to cross the Yellow River at night. The undercurrents in the river are turbulent, and it is difficult to detect the eyes at night. Eight out of ten will capsize, otherwise why would other people's boats refuse to sail? You should know that the price offered by the teacher is a hundred times that of the usual crossing of the river. These people still don't do it. I suspect that this person has a problem and leads us to such a remote place."

Luo Qingzheng pondered for a moment and said, "Maybe as you said, crossing the river at night is too dangerous, so the crew members refused to come. Actually, I also know that I may not be able to cross the river tonight, but at least I must stay away from Zhua County and not be found by them. It is also a way to wait until dawn tomorrow at this remote pier."

As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly heard a bowstring sound, and a cold arrow shot to the ground. The captain was not wary of it. He couldn't dodge it. He hit his throat with an arrow. He screamed and turned over and fell to the ground. The arrow shocked everyone. Luo Qingzheng was the first to react. He rolled to the ground and hid behind the big stone. He was so scared that he was trembling all over.

Arrows came like rain in the darkness, and the sound of chaotic running came from all directions. The Yan army scouts on the dock were in chaos. Everyone hid and found a place to hide from arrows. Their bows and arrows were all in the horse's bags and could not be taken out for a moment, and they could not form a counterattack, which was very passive.

The horses riding and transporting goods were all caught in arrows and neighed and fell to the ground. More than a dozen carriages fell over, and bags of sulfur were scattered on the ground. At this time, the arrow rain became denser and denser, shooting from east, west and south directions, leaving nowhere to hide. The screams continued, and the people were shot down.

Five thousand Northern Tang troops completely surrounded the dock. They shot arrows sixty steps away, forming a semicircle, and covered arrows shot towards the dock. When each soldier's quiver was shot, the dense rain of arrows finally stopped, and there was no sign of life on the dock.

Torches began to light up, and soon formed a sea of ​​torches. Thousands of torches slowly moved closer toward the pier, shining the pier as daytime. I saw that the pier was like an arrow field, and more than 100,000 arrows poured into this open space of several acres. The ground was covered with corpses, and blood flowed into a river. Many people could not escape death even if they lay on the ground. Hundreds of people were shot to death, without a single living mouth. Even the strategist Luo Qingzheng was caught in a dozen arrows and curled up on the rock and died.

The soldiers quickly cleared the battlefield, pulled the arrows away, and threw the bodies into the Yellow River. At this time, the flames flashed a way, and the general Li Sheng slowly came on a horse, followed by Niu Jin, the head of the Intelligence Hall.

He was very impressed. Five or six hundred people on the other side were all An Lushan's elite scouts, and they were all shot to death by arrows, so they didn't even have to see each other's face.

Li Sheng urged him to step forward, looked at the sulfur filled with more than 100 carriages, and smiled at Niu Jin, "Do I want these things to be handled with you?"

Niu Jin hurriedly thanked: "Thank you for your help from the general. I burned these sulfur in one fire."

"Okay, withdraw!"

With the order of Li Sheng, thousands of soldiers retreated in a moment. Only more than 40 people from the Intelligence Hall were left on the dock. The soldiers retrieved the war horses from the woods not far away, and they all turned over and headed towards Licheng. After walking for several miles, Li Sheng couldn't help but look back and saw that the dock was already filled with fire and rolling white smoke.

He thrust the war horse suddenly, and the war horse ran towards the darkness like an arrow.

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To be continued...