Zhang Hongqing reached out and rubbed the back of his neck. After thinking for a while, he suddenly asked: "Brother Ninth, do you think it's possible that Jia Wenbei has secretly defected to Li Xia?"
"Probably not. His Majesty trusts him, so he lets him stay here to look after his second brother." Zhang Hongfan said: "The Zhang family is still alive today, and he has a share of credit for it."
"Then he won't give you the old tiger charm?"
"Maybe he can't trust me."
Zhang Hongqing said in surprise: "You are so loyal to His Majesty that it is not his turn to be suspicious."
"That's not it." Zhang Hongfandao laughed at himself and said, "Maybe he can't trust my character."
"It's just a useless old thing. It's older than a sergeant in the army. What's the use of it?"
"Well, what happened to your neck? Is it injured?"
"I can't sleep well, I have a stiff neck."
"I still have a stiff neck at home." Zhang Hongfan patted his brother on the back and said, "Let's go and eat."
It gets dark very early in the winter months.
Because he was always thinking about Jia Wenbei's affairs, Zhang Hongfan took a pot of wine and went to Nanfu after dinner.
The Zhang family and the Jia family are as close as one family. When Baozhou City was built, the houses of the two families were built together. Because the Jia family was in the south, it was called Nanfu.
Jia Fu and Zhang Rou have a common hobby, which is to protect books. The Wanjuan Tower in Baozhou City is the place with the largest collection of books in the North.
Therefore, the layout of the Jia family's residence is completely like that of a scholarly family, and it does not look like the residence of a military general at all.
Zhang Hongfan had been coming here often since he was a child. When he asked where Jia Wenbei was, he entered the hall without letting the servants greet him and went straight to the side hall.
When he arrived at the hall door, he saw a boy standing by the door. He squinted and looked around, but he walked around from the back to the small garden next to the side hall.
Through the paper window, I could only hear someone talking to Jia Wenbei inside.
"The Tang army just attacked by force, what else could they do?"
"Then I will tell you what might happen based on my understanding of the Tang Army. Zhong Wu also knows that the Tang Army has a sharp weapon called artillery."
"As far as I know, this thing is bulky and Li Xia didn't bring it to the battlefield in Hebei?"
"It would be better to say that the Tang army was marching too fast. From Luoyang to Zhending, it was a thousand miles along the way, and more than thirty cities, large and small, fell in the wind. Not to mention the artillery, even the winter clothes had not yet been transported."
"Well, I did hear people say that the Tang army is just waiting for winter clothes and charcoal fire because it is moving too fast."
The hall was quiet for a moment.
Only then did someone continue to speak: "No matter how slow our luck is, it will only take ten days and a half. Once we attack by force, it will not be difficult to break through the city wall."
"Not necessarily, the battle depends on combat power, terrain, morale, food and grass, etc. The Mongolian cavalry can also go around to the rear of the Tang army to sneak attack. With this kind of plain terrain, it is not difficult to seize their artillery."
"What a pity. After the defeat at Helan Mountain, can the Mongolian cavalry still have such momentum? Once the Tang army attacks, I am afraid that Wu Gu will lead the cavalry to burn the food in Baozhou City and retreat to Yanjing with his troops."
"I heard from Jiulang that Li Xia is short of food and grass and is surrounded by enemies on all sides. Is there any possibility of retreating through peace talks?"
"It's possible, it would be best if we could negotiate peace. I'm just worried that the city my fathers worked so hard to save will harm the people."
"It must not be the case. It can be seen that Li Xia doesn't want to attack by force. After all, he is a Han...who?"
"Ah Lang, he is a villain."
"What's the matter?"
A servant's voice sounded in the hall, saying: "I want to ask if I want to give Jiulang tea... Hey, Jiulang is not here? I just saw him coming."
Zhang Hongfan then calmly walked around to the front door and said with a smile: "I haven't been to my eldest brother's house for a few years, so I got lost for a while."
There was a smile on his face, his eyes fell on the face of the person who was talking to Jia Wenbei, and he said: "My cousin is here too?"
This person is Zhang Rou's wife's nephew, Jingjie.
Jingjie looked calm and said with a smile: "Marshal Du is here, and I just happened to speculate on the situation with Zhong Wu."
"It's the same as I guessed." Zhang Hongfan said: "Heroes have the same idea."
"Don't worry, Marshal Du. My uncle and everyone in the family are still in Yanjing. To save their lives, we will not surrender to Li Xia." Jingjie spread his hands and became more candid and said: "If there is anything shameful, we will not surrender."
I will talk in this side hall with great arrogance."
"Don't worry." Zhang Hongfan smiled and said, "There is no misunderstanding..."
But that night, when Zhang Hongfan came out of Nanfu, he still told his confidants: "Go and check Jingjie."
In the past, Jingjie was mostly around Zhang Rou, and had a better relationship with Zhang Wulang, and he also dealt with Li Xia back then.
Such a person is naturally inclined to surrender.
Moreover, Zhang Hongfan believed that his second brother was unwilling to be taken to Yanjing and must have left behind a back-up in Baozhou City.
~~
The next day.
"Kuroro, found it!"
"explain."
"On the evening of the eighth day of November during Jingjie, I left Baozhou City and went to Tanghe Camp."
"What is he doing at Tanghe Camp?"
"It's said to be a winter coat for the prince."
Zhang Hongfan frowned and recalled the eighth day of November.
That day was the day when he and Zhang Hongqing discussed how to trap and kill Zhang Hongdao.
When this suspicion came to mind, he immediately felt uneasy, turned around and climbed to the top of the tower, raised his telescope and looked south.
It was windy and snowy, but the Tang army showed no signs of attacking Baozhou.
Even if we want to attack by force, we should first attack Shunping and Tang County in the south.
"Off Jingjie, I will go see him later."
"yes."
"Has Mr. Hao come back?"
"not yet."
The feeling of uneasiness made Zhang Hongfan somewhat expect Li Xia to agree to the peace talks as soon as possible.
He finally understood Wu Gudai's mood.
"Pass my order to send more detective horses to the south to investigate. Don't let up."
"Here."
"Also, is there anything unusual about those two thousand prisoners?"
"Eleventh Lang is reorganizing them these days. He said that they have not surrendered to Li Xia for a long time, and most of them are available."
"Send an order to Eleventh Lang and tell him to slow down the reorganization and take good care of the prisoners. The Tang army may have the possibility of a surprise attack on Baozhou."
"Here."
"Let Li Ting come to see me."
"yes."
Li Ting said his surname was Li, but he was actually a Jurchen whose real surname was Pucha.
He lived in Shandong for a long time. After Li Fen's rebellion, Zhang Hongfan trained the new army of Yidu and promoted him to become a member of the Qianhu family. Therefore, he was very loyal to Zhang Hongfan.
Li Ting's troops and horses in Baozhou City are completely under the command of Zhang Hongfan, and they are not the troops of the Zhang family's old tribe.
Zhang Hongfan whispered: "Bring your most elite soldiers and horses and keep an eye on Jia Wenbei."
"Jia Wenbei?"
"Yes, I have some doubts. The conclusion is not yet certain. Keep an eye on him to prevent chaos in Baozhou."
Li Tingdao: "Commander, if Jia Wenbei really wants to rebel, what should I do?"
"Counterinsurgency."
"Here..."
After making various military arrangements, Zhang Hongfan was ready to go to Jingjie.
When I arrived at the front yard, I saw Jingxuan standing in the yard.
"Respect the Duke."
Zhang Hongfan hurriedly accepted him as his disciple, because Jingxuan had also taught him how to read.
"Kuroro, I heard that you captured Mingyi?"
"Jinggong, I misunderstood. I just have something to ask my cousin. Please wait for me in the side hall." Zhang Hongfan responded with a smile, but he already felt the difficulty of housework.
This family seems to have a force fighting against him.
At first he thought the power came from Zhang Hongdao, but gradually, he realized that it actually came from Zhang Wenjing.
With such a daughter of the Zhang family as a concubine in the Tang Dynasty, there must be someone in the Zhang family who is both arrogant and unwilling to serve the Yuan Dynasty with peace of mind.
Jingxuan stroked his beard and sighed: "Jiulang just needs to remember that 'blood is thicker than water'."
"Don't worry, sir." Zhang Hongfan said, "Everything I do is to save my family's business."
"Then I won't say any more, let's go."
Jingxuan then got out of the way.
Zhang Hongfan raised his head and looked at the flying snowflakes, then walked towards the place where Jingjie was being escorted.
Jingjie was sitting quietly sipping tea when he turned around and saw Zhang Hongfan coming. He raised his tea cup and said with a smile: "Qingfeng Xiaoming, Tianmu Mountain's famous tea, did you bring it back?"
"I brought it back."
"Are you in cahoots with the Southerners?"
"The envoy from the Song Dynasty gave it to Mr. Hao, and Mr. Hao gave it to me."
“Good tea.”
Zhang Hongfan sat down on the chair and said, "Cousin, there's no need to pretend, you met Wu Lang a few days ago."
Jingjie paused while sipping tea and shook his head.
But at this moment, Zhang Hongfan had already figured it out. He smiled and said, "You can't fight me."
"Yes, Jiulang has been the smartest since he was a child. He has good martial arts skills, writes good poems, and is very methodical in doing things. He is better than us."
"Cousin admits it?"
"What?"
Zhang Hongfan smiled bitterly and said: "Since Li Xia's northern raid, Henan and Hebei have been facing the wind and there has been no decent resistance. This is not a good thing for us Central Plains people. In the future, people will only say that the Mongolian attack is like this, and the New Tang Dynasty
The attack is like this again, and the heroes of Heshuo are all cowards. They have been defeated time and time again, even without dignity."
Jingjie stopped and put down the tea cup in his hand.
"dignity?"
He asked in shock, "Everything you say is good, even if you talk about fame and wealth, but you talk about dignity to me? Do you have dignity when you live under the rule of foreigners?!"
Zhang Hongfan said: "Admit it?"
"I laughed at you."
"I remember when you were young, you said that you hated your father and ancestors for dying for the Kingdom of Jin." Zhang Hongfan said: "You said that a man should be like my father and protect the family. I remember your words very well."
"So, why do you want to die for Meng Yuan?"
"I also want to preserve our family!"
"Jiulang." Jingjie said: "You are outstanding. But you look down on other people in this family too low. What do you think about your father, your second brother, your fifth brother, your sixth brother, and your eldest sister?"
They are all useless, you are the only one who is smart, right?"
Zhang Hongfan was silenced for the first time.
After a while, he shook his head and said, "I just want to ask you, what did you say when you met Wu Lang?"
Jingjie turned around and looked outside, saying, "It's getting dark soon."
"so what?"
"Before dark, take Baozhou City and surrender."
"impossible."
"This is what your father meant. The fights in the world belong to other people's families. The relatives and friends on this side are old friends, the villagers and elders, and blood is thicker than water. It is our own."
Zhang Hongfan said: "You have misinterpreted my father's meaning. All my Zhang family members, old and young, are still in Yanjing."
"I believe your brothers, Rokuro has stayed in Wei Miyagi for many years, and it's not for nothing."
Zhang Hongfan stood up suddenly, picked up Jingjie's collar, and said, "Don't try to lie to me. I think you want to sell my Zhang family for your own future."
"I spend a lot more time in this house than you do!"
"Then your surname is not Zhang either!"
"..."
After being silent for a while, Jingjie persuaded again: "It's not far from dark, Kurang should make a decision as soon as possible."
Zhang Hongfan threw him to the ground and shouted to the guards outside: "You guys, interrogate him for me!"
"yes."
"Others, follow me, there are traitors in the city..."
~~
At this time, somewhere in Baozhou City, an old golden tiger talisman was being held in someone's hand and looked at carefully.
"It's true. If I lie to anyone, I won't lie to you, uncle."
"Uncle, I just didn't expect it. Can the commander really give it to you?"
Zhang Hongdao, who was sitting there, raised his head, showed a slight smile, and said: "Isn't that because Xiao Wu is promising..."