Head east from Xiangyang City, cross the Han River, and then walk more than ten miles to Lumen Mountain.
After the Yuan and Song Dynasties negotiated an alliance, the Yuan army built a fortress here in the name of protecting goods.
This was the first time Lu Wenhuan walked into the fortress in person.
In the early winter weather of late October, he was wearing a white robe that looked like mourning clothes, with light armor over the white robe. Such an ordinary outfit still made him calm and majestic.
His temperament is very different from two years ago, more like Lu Wende.
Climbing the stone steps step by step, he passed through the first level of the city wall, and then passed through the second level of the city wall. After passing through the third level of the city wall, Lu Wenhuan finally snorted and said: "You can see that Meng Yuan is determined to destroy me.
"
"Marshal Lu need not be angry. After all, the Yuan army ceded Lumen Mountain and Nanyang cities to the Song Dynasty."
The speaker was a civil official who came from Lin'an to deliver the order. His name was Jia Yuqing.
Because his surname was Jia, Lu Wenhuan inevitably suspected that he was related to Jia Sidao. However, after repeated testing in the past few days, Jia Yuqing always smiled and said nothing, saying that he was only talking about official business.
As for official duties, they are quite simple.
"The general has taken the order, but I still have some questions... It's so far away, is it possible for us to come and support him in time?"
He asked back, and then answered by himself with a sigh.
"What's wrong?" Huo Xiaolian asked.
"As a lobbyist, I must be better than that old loser just now."
"Shuai Lu, think twice. If you are deceived by the villains of Lin'an, collude with foreigners, and ruin the Han family's restoration of their great cause. If the king's army marches south, not only will the Lu family be destroyed, but it will also be infamy for thousands of years. Don't be too careful!"
Wang Xun was not afraid, and his tone became more sincere.
"That's enough! Who do you think I, Lu Wenhuan, am? Can I be easily persuaded to surrender?!"
Lu Wenhuan suddenly shouted loudly, tapped his chest hard, and said: "I will serve in the army, gallop in the northwest, guard the southeast, serve the country with loyalty, risk life and death, and protect the Song Dynasty! I am the Great Song Dynasty!
Loyal minister of Song Dynasty!"
"It's just a few words of advice to Marshal Lu on how to establish himself. Now that our army is united in restoring the Central Plains, if Marshal Lu sends troops north to aid the foreign invaders, it will not only arouse the hatred of our Tang Dynasty soldiers, but also arouse the suspicion of the Song Dynasty. Where will we go from now on? Look at those smart people in the north.
How the prince's family is doing, the situation in the world is not clear yet, Lu Shuai only needs to wait and see how it changes. It can protect the people of Jinghu from the disaster of war, and it can protect the whole Lu family from being implicated. Why do more and make more mistakes?
Are you to blame?!"
"The general has one more thing to worry about."
People in Shandong still know a good man.
"I know." Wang Xun said: "They are all empty cities, with no food and grass. The working people have moved away, and the houses have been burned down. I will give them to you, Zhao Song, so that you can meet our army. It is easy for you to take the cities of Nanyang today.
, but it is difficult to hold it. The military resources will then be endless, where will the Song court raise them?"
~~
"You all get down."
This is indeed not a suspenseful matter. Lu Wenhuan nodded after hearing this and said: "I would like to borrow Mr. Jia's auspicious words..."
“What a great place.”
"I regard you as a person with national integrity and a righteous heart."
Huo Xiaolian said: "Except for the Chang'an garrison, you are already the closest force, and you are also the navy. In the terrain over there, the navy is more useful than the cavalry."
"You see, if the Yuan army occupies this place, they can take advantage of the situation to build fortifications in those places and cut off the water and land routes for the imperial court to support Xiangyang. By then, Xiangyang will be an isolated city. How ambitious it is."
"That's different." Wang Xin chuckled softly: "You are you, and Zhao Song is Zhao Song. If we don't let Zhao Song go, we may not let you go."
"That's different." Wang Xin laughed and said: "Our Northern Expedition will at least drive the Mongolian Yuan to the north of the Great Wall. Therefore, Your Majesty went straight to Yanjing and did not fight for the eastern city. Do you know that I was going to Shandong to persuade
Yan Zhongji said he would not go. As long as Kublai Khan is destroyed, Shandong will naturally join. Why care about the gains and losses of a city or a place? Unlike you, you still covet the empty city of Nanyang. Put it this way, there are more than thirty cities in the north.
The Yuan army had already looted everything when they withdrew. Even if you only garrison a thousand troops in each city, you still need more than 30,000 troops. How much manpower and material resources will be needed to repair the city and distribute food and grass? Do you still want to attack Mengjin Ferry?
?Your Majesty has already predicted it, can you fight?"
According to reports from Tanma, the Yuan troops in Nanyang cities are also retreating, and it is said that they have rushed to Kaifeng to support them.
After Lu Wenhuan heard this, he felt a little bit in agreement.
Wang Xin smiled again, appearing to be very close to Lu Wenhuan, and even wanted to reach out and pat him on the shoulder, but was intimidated by his eyes and had to give up.
"It doesn't matter, there is a fight in the army, it's a trivial matter." Lu Wenhuan said: "Jia Xianggong is tired, go and arrange a shoulder cart to take him down the mountain."
The corners of his mouth twitched, as if he wanted to laugh, but he tried hard to restrain himself.
Now that the Yuan court was bent on forming an alliance with the Song court and was quite sincere, it expressed its willingness to give up the cities of Nanyang in exchange for the Song court sending troops to attack Mengjindu. The Lin'an court sent an official to convey this to Lu Wenhuan.
"But ships can't bring it there."
"You're welcome, handsome."
Lu Wenhuan smiled lightly and said: "According to what you say, Li Xia doesn't need to go to the north. It's easy to capture the Central Plains, but it's difficult to defend the Central Plains. The military resources are endless. Where can he raise them?"
"Of course!"
Lu Wenhuan first looked at several warehouses in the Lumen Mountain fortress, but they were empty, with no food or money at all.
Jia Yuqing said: "It would be interesting for two tigers to fight, at least if their strength is about the same. It is said that Li Ni is about to reach Yanjing. Therefore, the imperial court agreed to Yuan Ting's request to send troops to Mengjin Crossing."
"Everything in this world cannot be decided by words."
Wang Xun had already walked to the high platform, took out a telescope from his arms, looked around, and said: "The Yuan army knows how to choose a place. If they occupy this place, they can easily blockade Xiangyang."
~~
At the same time, Xia Yangdu.
"You want to persuade me not to send troops?" Lu Wenhuan said: "When you drive the Meng Yuan to the north of the Great Wall, won't you turn around and raid south?"
The raised hand was put down, and then placed on the big mouth, making a very mysterious movement.
"Barbarians are all like this." Lu Wenhuan said, "They bully the weak and fear the strong."
But Lu Wende never wanted to learn to read. In the past, Lu Wenhuan felt that his eldest brother was not motivated. Looking back over the past two years, he can realize Lu Wende's stubbornness and arrogance of not bowing to the literati.
Two people came from below with their heads lowered and passed by him.
"Too bad it's empty."
"You want to drive a wedge between me and the court?"
"Walked to Lizhou and divided into two groups to provide support. One way went down the Jialing River and picked up ships along the way. The other line rushed to Chengdu to pick up the ships in Shanghai. Your Majesty has already mentioned this in his letter."
"knew."
In fact, as expected, he climbed to the high platform on the top of the mountain, looked out for a while, and gave instructions to Jia Yuqing.
Jia Yuqing was very respectful and responded: "It can be seen that Yuan Ting was forced into a desperate situation by Li Ni, so he proposed such conditions to the court."
"Given the current status of the Lu family in Zhao and Song Dynasties, they are like a vassal town. Today, Marshal Lu wants to regain the cities of Nanyang and even defeat my king's division? Do you still want to make great military exploits? When the time comes, it will be too great to be the master.
Already."
Lu Wenhuan narrowed his eyes slightly and put his hand on the handle of the knife, as if he had murderous intent.
"Looking south at Lumen Mountain, you can see the lingering fragrance of kindness, the old hidden place, the clouds are deep and the trees are green."
Suddenly, a soldier came up from the mountain and whispered into Lu Wenhuan's ear.
Zhang Shun and Zhang Gui are now literate and can understand letters, but they haven't reacted yet.
Zhang Shun quickly walked to the map, pointed at it, and said: "Since the Song army has attacked Sichuan and Shu, will they attack Mengjindu? We are the only navy along the Yellow River. If we are transferred, no one can
Support Mengjin Ferry."
Lu Wenhuan frowned slightly and thought for a while.
Finally, Wang Xun turned around, walked up to him again, and said, "If I misjudge Commander Lu, Commander Lu might as well kill me..."
Both of them were silent for a while.
"Commander, what happened?" Jia Yuqing asked with a smile.
Brothers Zhang Shun and Zhang Gui looked a lot dull after reading Li Xia's long letter.
"But the Yuan army has already given up Lumen Mountain. If you are coming from the north, you should know that they have also given up all the cities in Nanyang."
The Lu family brothers were born in Tanfu, and had been looked down upon by scholar-bureaucrats in their early years. Because Lu Wenhuan was still young when Lu Wende became famous, he could be considered a scholar after reading some books.
One of them turned back to look at the Song Dynasty official and smiled, as if he found it quite interesting.
Lu Wenhuan's hand was still on the handle of the knife, but he did not pull out the knife.
Wang Xun took a deep look at Lu Wenhuan, then turned his back and looked at the rolling water of the Han River again.
Before the Battle of Wuguan, Lu Wenhuan actually met Wang Xun. What he thought at the time was that such a boastful, arrogant and rude person would not live long, but he didn't expect that he was still alive now.
"Then I would like to congratulate the commander in advance for regaining the cities of Nanyang and making an immortal contribution to the Song Dynasty."
"enough!"
"Say it."
"You don't plan to let me go, but you want me to let you go today?"
Jia Yuqing was flattered and wanted to accompany Lu Wenhuan, but he was a civil servant after all and was weak and could not bear such a trek, so he accepted the care.
As soon as Jia Yuqing arrived here, the Yuan army there actually withdrew from the city fortress of Lumen Mountain as promised.
"yes."
Continue to climb the stairs, pass through the three-story wall, climb to the high platform, and see Lu Wenhuan.
So the Jianyu staggered down the mountain, and Jia Yuqing looked at the mountains along the way, became interested, and even stroked his beard and recited a Tang poem.
Wang Xin took two steps closer and said: "Anyway, I'm really annoyed by these scholars in the south. They all think they are noble. Only your eldest brother is a real hero."
"Who do I think Marshal Lu is?"
When the surrounding soldiers retreated, Lu Wenhuan put his hands behind his back and said in a majestic manner: "You are very brave, are you not afraid that I will kill you?"
"His Majesty Nanfang has already made arrangements."
Zhang Gui raised his hand and said hesitantly: "Let me ask another unlucky question... What if... there is no navy, what if the army to the north is defeated, how can we come back?"
Huo Xiaolian was silent for a moment, because Li Xia had not mentioned this issue to him.
But after thinking about it, he remembered something that the military had been saying before.
"I swear I won't pay it back until I break Yanjing."