A group of thirty cavalrymen came out of Beixianren Pass and rushed eastward...
Liu Zan stood at the top of the city, watching the cavalry go away. His eyes were full of worry. Although the other party didn't say anything, he took Zhu Shengfei's command arrow and headed north. He knew what they were going to do without asking? Obviously?
They were heading towards Ganquan Fort, taking advantage of Chen Qing's absence to seize his army.
I don’t know if Chen Qing has considered this issue? Is he prepared?
Thirty cavalrymen were guarding a general running all the way. This general was called Jiang Huanyong. He was a veteran of the Eight-Character Army who had followed Fu Xuan for many years. He was about forty years old. He was one of the bandit leaders in the Taihang Mountains at first. He was recruited by Wang Yan and became the Eight-Character Army.
A member of the army, he has been following Fu Xuan.
Jiang Huanyong was highly qualified, but he had not made many meritorious deeds. He was more cunning and cunning in battles, so he was never put into high regard by Wang Yan. He only served as commander for ten years.
It was also because after Fu Xuan took office that Jiang Huanyong's spring came. He was promoted to commander last year and was personally appointed commander by Zhu Shengfei a few days ago.
Moreover, there is another reason why Fu chose Jiang Huayong, that is, Zheng Ping was once a subordinate of Jiang Huanyong. Among Chen Qing's generals, Yang Zaixing, Liu Qiong, Liu Cui, Niu Gao and others were not qualified enough. Yang Yuanqing was the deputy commander and the backstage
He is weak and his character has always been soft.
Only Zheng Ping was a tough guy, with a strong background and loyal to Chen Qing. The key was to get Zheng Ping down, so Fu Xuancai took a fancy to Jiang Huanyong. Zheng Ping stayed under Jiang Huanyong for five years. After the Battle of Fuping, he reorganized the Eight Character Army Scout Battalion.
Only then did he break away from Jiang Huanyong and become Chen Qing's subordinate.
After letting Jiang Huanyong act as the commander-in-chief of the Qinzhou Army this time, Zhu Shengfei still had to find a way to persuade the emperor to keep Chen Qing in the southeast and prevent him from returning to the Western Army. The elite Song army in Ganquan Fort became Zhu Shengfei's bag.
Jiang Huanyong stopped the team and said to the leading soldiers with some dissatisfaction: "Qinzhou is in the north, why do we keep walking eastward?"
The soldier leading the way said quickly: "I told the general before that the road going north passes through the Qiang controlled area. It is difficult to deal with those Qiang people. Walking eastward passes a section of Longzhou Official Road and then enters Qinzhou.
This is the official road, it is very easy to walk, and the general also approves of taking this road."
Jiang Huanyong remembered that he had promised, but he did not expect to pass through Longzhou, which was the territory of the puppet Qi army.
Jiang Huanyong hesitated and asked, "How far is this road to Longzhou?"
"It's about forty miles away. It can be covered in one morning or one night."
"Then let's walk this way at night!"
Jiang Huanyong urged his horse to speed up and run east...
At night, Jiang Huanyong and thirty of his men entered the official road of Longzhou. The surroundings were silent, several villages were abandoned, and there was no human habitation for dozens of miles.
After running for about ten miles, a team of several hundred people suddenly appeared in front. Seeing that the armor was that of the puppet Qi army, someone shouted: "Stop!"
Jiang Huanyong was shocked. How could he encounter the puppet Qi army at night?
He wanted to turn around and run away but was unwilling to do so. Seeing that the opponents were all infantry and he was a cavalry, he gritted his teeth and ordered: "Charge over!"
Everyone speeded up their horses and rushed towards the Puppet Qi Army. A sneer appeared in the eyes of the leading Puppet Qi Army general. This Jiang Huanyong really didn't know what to do.
He ordered sharply: "Fire the arrow!"
Hundreds of puppet Qi troops squatted down and fired arrows together. The dense crossbow arrows rained down on Jiang Huanyong and his men. Jiang Huanyong, who was running at the front, was unable to dodge and was hit by dozens of arrows. He was killed on the spot. Thirty of his men were also shot.
Half of them fell, and the remaining cavalry turned around and fled for their lives.
The general of the Puppet Qi Army waved his hand and said with a smile: "Let them go!"
He whispered to a soldier: "Go and notify the Puppet Qi Army's patrol sentry and let them come and receive the reward!"
Hundreds of "Puppet Qi Army" soldiers then disappeared into the night.
A few days later, Zhao Yong, the defender of Longzhou, sent someone to deliver a human head to Jingzhao and boasted about his military exploits. He defeated the Song army that invaded Longzhou, killed hundreds of enemies, and killed the leader of the Song army to control Jiang Huanyong. Li Cheng immediately issued an order.
In order to boost the morale of the three armies, Zhao Yong was promoted to deputy commander.
It took a month for the news to reach Zhu Shengfei's ears. Zhu Shengfei was so angry that he cursed, but he was helpless. He finally understood that even if he sent ten generals to Ganquan Fort, these ten generals would die violently, either by being eaten by tigers or by tigers.
Being kidnapped by bandits and faced with the other party's despicableness, Zhu Shengfei had no choice but to give up.
He began to write letters to his former imperial contacts, trying to prevent Chen Qing from returning to the Western Army.
...........
After Chen Qing and his party arrived in Chengdu, they rented a two-story passenger ship worth 2,000 shi and a horse boat worth 3,000 shi to go to the Yangtze River and take the Yangtze River waterway to Lin'an.
His hundreds of soldiers are elites selected from more than 10,000 troops. They are the elites among the elites. They are all highly skilled in martial arts, proficient in riding and shooting, and can block ten with one.
Although there are only hundreds of elite cavalry, if coupled with the combat effectiveness of Chen Qinghou, the most powerful general of the Western Army, it is no less than an army of 3,000 men.
At dawn, Yu Lian and Yu Ying brought hot water into the cabin. They and Chen Qing lived on the upper floor of the ship, while Yang Liu and the two maids also lived on the second floor.
The two young ladies were quick at combing Chen Qing's hair and tidying up the room. Yu Lian brought breakfast and made a pot of tea.
These things were all done by soldiers before, but now they are done by two maids. The feeling is indeed completely different. They are attentive and thoughtful, and the service is perfect. Even the tea is served with the water at just the right temperature.
He was not as rough as the soldiers. Once, the soldiers spilled the boiling tea and caused blisters on Chen Qing's arms.
"Where are you?" Chen Qingxiao asked.
"Speaking of Jianli County, we will dock at Jianli County Pier at noon."
Chen Qing nodded, the boat was quite fast. It only arrived at Jiangling City yesterday afternoon, and today it arrived at Jianli County.
At noon, the big ship arrived in Jianli County, Jiangling Prefecture. The ship docked for supplies. There were many ships on the pier, and they were all queuing up to wait for supplies. It would take at least half a day for their turn.
There are many shops and restaurants on the pier, and many vendors are selling various items to the boatmen.
"Sir, let's go down and take a walk!"
After being on the boat for half a month, the two young ladies couldn't bear the temptation of land.
"Okay, you can go have a drink with me."
Chen Qing took two young ladies and several soldiers off the ship and came to the largest restaurant. It was not yet dinner time, the restaurant had just opened, and there were no customers on the first or second floor.
The bartender stepped forward with a smile on his face and said, "What a coincidence that our guest is here, the shop has just opened!"
Chen Qing glanced at the lobby and asked with a smile: "How many people can be accommodated for dinner?"
"There is no problem with more than a hundred people!"
"I've booked the restaurant for lunch today!"
Chen Qing turned around and said to one of his men: "Go and call all the brothers over for dinner!"
The men rushed away, and not long after, a large group of soldiers came down from the boat. The bartender was startled and quickly went to tell the shopkeeper that the restaurant was in a hurry to welcome hundreds of diners, and a sign was hung up that it was full.
Chen Qing went up to the second floor and sat down at a table by the window. The shopkeeper came to order for him personally.
"The shop is most famous for its grilled fish. There are more than a dozen ways to cook it, and the taste is different."
Chen Qing was tired of eating fish every day on the boat. He smiled and asked, "Are there any wild game?"
"Yes! Roasted venison, mutton, deer meat, as well as valuable mushrooms, pine mushrooms, beggar's pheasant, and even a bowl of deer blood."
"The deer blood is omitted, but is there any sake?"
The shopkeeper was a little confused: "The store doesn't have it, but it can be bought, and it may be a little more expensive." Chen Qing waved his hand and said: "It's more expensive! Each of my subordinates has a bowl of sake. Calculate how much you need to buy, and then give it to me."
I’ll bring two pots of sake and eight dishes, five meat and three vegetarian, including wild game and wild game, you can take care of it yourself!”
"I understand, villain!"
The shopkeeper left quickly. He arranged for the bartender to buy wine and arranged for the kitchen to prepare food.
Not long after, the dishes began to be served one after another, and the restaurant suddenly became lively.
At this time, Yan Jun came over and whispered: "Beizhi heard someone at the door saying that there was a war in Yuezhou. Would you like to go and find out?"
"After you finish eating, go and find the magistrate."
Yan Jun bowed and left, but Chen Qing fell into deep thought. The war in Yuezhou probably had something to do with Yang Yao. He originally didn't want to pay attention to Yang Yao, but his old boss Wang Yan was appointed as the governor of Yuezhou, so he had to intervene!
Eight dishes were brought to him. The shopkeeper personally brought a pot of hot wine and said with a smile: "My lord, let's try our most famous sake in Jianli County. The other pot is still hot."
"Delay the shopkeeper a little!"
Chen Qingxiao asked: "Does the shopkeeper know about the situation in Yuezhou?"
"I heard some rumors that tens of thousands of water thieves defeated the officers and soldiers three times. It seems that they were besieging Baling County recently. I don't know the result."
"Yang Yao actually defeated the officers and soldiers three times?"
Chen Qing was a little surprised. He knew that the leader of the bandit suppression was Li Gang, who was the propaganda envoy of Huguang at that time. He was a famous anti-golden prime minister, but he was defeated by Yang Yaoshui how many times?
"Is Yang Yao so powerful?"
"What's so great about him as a water thief? It's just that the fake Qi is supporting him from behind! Everyone knows it."
Chen Qing nodded. Seeing that the two young ladies were listening in rapt attention, he smiled and said, "Eat quickly! It's time to set off after eating."
