In the big tent, after asking questions for a while, the sound of a woman crying could be heard.
"To tell you what the general said, it's Zhang from Yongning."
"Luoyang?"
"Yes, the slave family... The family fell into decline, and they went to Chang'an with their family to join their uncle."
Li Xia held a talisman in his hand and looked at it, then asked: "Why do you carry Shuntian Zhang's talisman?"
"The carriage and horses arrived near the Zhuding Plain. The slave's family was greedy for the scenery. They looked out through the curtain and saw that some Mongolian villains came to rob the slave's family and disrupted the carriage and horses... ugh... many people died... the slave's carriage was led away for several times.
While there, I happened to meet a young gentleman coming on horseback, leading more than 20 servants. He was so majestic and brave that he saved the slave family."
"Tell me more carefully, who is he?"
"He... is delicate and handsome, as gentle as jade. He wears a crown scarf on his head, draped across his shoulders and back, and carries a long sword at his waist... Well, Feng Shen is handsome. He heard that the young master of the slave family was still behind, so he
He took people to rescue him and sent two guards to take me through Tongguan first. In addition, he was accompanied by a female Taoist priest who was in her thirties."
"And after that?"
"When we arrived at Tongguan, the guard showed the talisman to pass the customs, and the slave family was placed in Huazhou. After waiting for a few days, a lady came to see her, saying that the slave family had met her when she was a child. After chatting for a long time, the slave family felt a little strange and asked her
Maybe she had mistakenly admitted the wrong person, so she just took the slave family to the Lianping Temple. The slave family thought that there was a female Taoist priest next to the young man, and there was also a female Taoist priest in the Lianping Temple. Maybe it was arranged by him.
Then I settled down with peace of mind..."
"When did you arrive in Tongguan?"
"It should be the first day of July."
Li Xia asked carefully for a while and then ordered someone to send the woman to Chang'an to seek refuge with her relatives.
Lin Zi stepped forward and asked: "Commander, it seems that Lian Xixian and Shang Ting have admitted the wrong person?"
"The people working below can admit their mistakes, but they will not admit their mistakes. I am afraid they will have reacted when they received Zhang Hongdao's letter." Li Xia said: "It happened that we defeated Liu Heima in the Weishui River, and Lian Xixian made the mistake of taking advantage of it."
He took out the broken letter and tried to complete it again, and now he had a new idea.
"Sure enough, Zhang Hongdao is not asking Shang Ting for help, but is warning Shang Ting not to touch the Zhang family."
"No wonder Lian Xixian burned half of it."
Li Xia said: "There are enough clues. After taking Tongguan, we can use our own spies to investigate. We don't need to be led by Lian Xixian anymore."
"yes."
"Go and interrogate the prisoners to determine whether the dead one is Lian Xixian, and then send his body to Tongguan..."
~~
Tongguan.
"Baochen actually came in person."
Shang Ting looked at Zhao Bi in front of him and sighed.
Zhao Bi also had a very heavy expression on his face and said: "Jingzhao was lost and the mountains and rivers were shaken. How could I not come?"
Zhao Bi had been promoted. In addition to Henan Economic Envoy, he also had the title of "General Manager of Han Dynasty's Financial Administration".
Because if the current situation in the Central Plains could be summed up in four words, it would be that "the government and the treasures are exhausted". Kublai Khan wanted to march north and was extremely short of a lot of money and food. He appointed Zhao Bi, Xu Xu and Dong Wenbing to take charge of Qiangu in the Central Plains.
It went well at the beginning. Zhao Bi hand-checked the books and got tens of thousands of money from the rich and powerful, so that the people of the Central Plains were not disturbed and the army had enough money. The money and grain went northward "through paintings and paintings, one after another."
Unexpectedly, at this juncture, news continued to come from the west, forty thousand troops were destroyed, and Longxi was lost... Zhao Bicai could only say a few words, and he was caught off guard when he heard that the Jingzhao Mansion had been lost.
He was so shocked that he felt like he was struck by thunder, but he couldn't believe it. Pegasus flew from Kaifeng to Tongguan.
Once you see the flags of the Song Army flying outside Guancheng, you will have no choice but to believe it no matter how hard you believe it.
"Why has it come to this?!"
If Zhao Bi could still maintain his dignity in front of others when they first met, at this time he could no longer control his tone when chatting secretly with Shang Ting.
Shang Ting didn't know what to say.
Everything happened too fast. First, he had to deal with the armies on all sides of the Hundu Sea. He was also busy with the transportation of Zan to support the Northern Expedition. Lian Xixian was in charge of the situation in Longxi.
In the blink of an eye, they only got general news: Liu Heima had rebelled, and Lian Xixian had taken the lead in withdrawing from Jingzhao Mansion.
At this time, he was unwilling to take away the blame, so Shang Ting had no choice but to talk about what he knew. Finally, he said: "I am incompetent and lost Guanlong. I am willing to bear the responsibility..."
"Can you afford it?!"
Zhao Bi leaned forward, his tone already bitter, and said: "Brother Meng Qing, I am not asking for blame, and I have no right to ask for blame, but neither you nor Shanfu can afford this!"
"I understand, I understand." Shang Tingyi's face became even more bitter, and the bitterness soaked into his heart. His hands trembled and he murmured: "In Bao Chen's opinion, what else can we do?"
"Where is Shanfu? He must have an explanation. He has already made it clear to me, or I can intercede with His Majesty for him."
Zhao Bi couldn't sit still, stood up and walked a few steps, saying: "In my opinion, what is the situation? Shanfu stopped teaching and carried out executions, mobilized all the troops, and made Wang Liangchen his commander. No one in the capital wanted to accuse him.
?! Your Majesty trusted him and personally entrusted him with the authority in all aspects. He should do things appropriately and should not stick to the routine and let things go wrong. However, the decree was just issued and Guan Long was lost. How do you want the people of the world to think of your Majesty?!"
"We...understand that Shanfu is willing to take back Guanlong and try his best to restore it..."
"Rescue? How else to save it?!" Zhao Bi raised his hand and shouted: "Tongguan will be lost soon! You want me to mobilize the Henan garrison to the fullest, regardless of whether Li Fen and Song Ting are interested?!"
"He can only kill Li Xia."
"I have made plans and praised paintings all my life, but now I am showing off my courage?"
"What else can we do? Instead of adding more crime to crime, why not try your best and be successful if you don't succeed..."
Zhao Bi shook his head and remained silent.
He understands that Lian Xixian no longer intends to come back alive. He has repeatedly "acted appropriately", but if he comes back alive, too many people will be implicated.
"Tongguan can't be guarded for long. If Shanfu doesn't succeed, we can only retreat temporarily." Zhao Bi murmured: "I will try my best to save the lives of Brother Meng Qing and his family."
There is not much to say about these things. Both of them were worried, and they had a premonition that Lian Xixian might have become benevolent.
Zhao Bi turned around and went out, only to see soldiers coming forward.
"Song Jun sent a letter to Shang Gong..."
In the room, Shang Ting's face darkened. He felt Zhao Bi's gaze and raised his hand, "Please Bao Chen take a look at it."
"Brother Meng Qing, don't worry, I won't fall for this alienation plan."
~~
Half an hour later, Hu Zhiyun was brought to Zhao Bi.
He was released before the Song army attacked Tongguan. Because Shang Ting was worried that he had been betrayed, he did not dare to reuse him, so he was only kept under observation and said to be recuperating.
At this time, facing Zhao Bi's scrutiny, Hu Zhiyun remained magnanimous and told everything about what happened in Chang'an City.
"In other words, you failed to assassinate Li Xia."
Hu Zhiyun also had a bitter tone and responded: "We are just testing. Prime Minister Lian has said that if we fail, he will do it himself."
"What happened to the Zhang family girl?"
"I'm not sure. The letter Prime Minister Lian gave us was torn up. It's impossible for Li Xia to interrogate the results from me. It must be just one of Prime Minister Lian's methods to mess with Li Xia's mind."
Zhao Bi nodded. He had already asked Shang Ting about this matter. He asked no more questions, "Tell me again carefully what happened when Li Xia interrogated you."
"Could it be that the Minister of Economic Affairs doubts the integrity of the Prime Minister and the loyalty of the Honest Prime Minister..."
"I'm not doubting anyone, I'm just letting you say it."
a long time.
"Li Xia said that His Majesty sent someone to contact him to kill the late emperor?"
"This...does indeed say it."
"What's the voice like?"
"It seemed like it was said casually."
Zhao Bi narrowed his eyes slightly.
He would not believe it if someone in the Jinlianchuan shogunate rebelled against his Majesty and surrendered to Li Xia.
However, there are still some doubts about Diaoyu City.
Zhao Bi always remembered the scene of discussions with the Jinlianchuan shogunate after Meng Ge's personal expedition.
then,
"The road to Shu is dangerous and far away. How can we move lightly if we have thousands of vehicles?"
When Shang Ting said this, Brother Meng had already arrived in Shu.
I still remember that after these words, Your Majesty was silent for a long time...
"Is it Shang Ting? After the discussion that night, he still believed that 'the road to Shu is far and dangerous', so... Yang Guo defected..."
~~
August 12.
Li Xia has marched to the west of Tongguan.
First, he ordered the soldiers to send Lian Xixian's burnt corpse and flags and symbols to Tongguan. Then Li Xia asked Liu Yuanli, "Has the letter been sent in?"
"Sent it. I saw reinforcements coming from the enemy and sent them."
"I've been busy lately, and I'm too lazy to use tricks like this to alienate people." Li Xia said, "But now that Lian Xixian has taken action, it's not a gentleman to come and go without going back."
"The commander is really strategizing." Liu Yuanli praised, pointed to the corpse in front of him, and said with emotion: "Sending another corpse today is really a gift that keeps on coming."
"After years of fighting, both sides have exhausted their strength. If they continue to attack their hearts, they will no longer defend."
"Tongguan has not been able to defend the west since ancient times. The enemy's fighting spirit is not determined. Now they are still holding on. I am afraid that they are waiting for Lian Xixian's surprise troops. As soon as the general arrives today, he will probably withdraw soon..."
As Liu Yuanli said, in the next two days, twelve consecutive cities were captured by the Song army.
After the Mid-Autumn Festival, the Mongolian army took the initiative to withdraw without waiting for the Song army to detour to the east of Tongguan.
On August 16, Li Xia entered Tongguan and took charge personally, sending Liu Yuanli to pursue eastward and attack Jindou Pass, Hangu Pass and other pass cities.
At this point, it was difficult for the Mongolian army to counterattack and attack the key points.
The first thing Li Xia has to do is to arrange the defense on all sides of Guanzhong.
For example, the strategic significance of Yangping Pass, Dashan Pass, Ziwu Pass and other places has been reduced, and the garrison and garrison troops in various places will have to be redeployed.
On the same day, a transfer order was sent to various places by fast horse...
It wasn't until nightfall when Lin Zi came over to report that Li Xia raised his head from between the eucalyptus papers.
"Found it?"
"Our secret agents interviewed many people, and many people saw them crossing the Yellow River and heading north."
"Is that the border of Shanxi? Arrange some experts to go there and check."
"Yes." Lin Zi agreed. Seeing that Li Xia had not touched the dinner, he advised: "The commander-in-chief should take a break occasionally."
"It doesn't matter, it will be fine soon."
Li Xia also listened to the advice, put down his pen, picked up Kuai Zi, and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Currently, there are still few talents needed. When you first enter Guanzhong, chaos is inevitable, but getting rid of Lian Xixian can alleviate a lot. The remaining small fish and shrimps will gradually not make big waves."
Lin Zi also sighed: "I was also uneasy a while ago. I didn't even have time to take a breath after retaking Chang'an. Until now, the fine work in Chang'an City has not been cleaned up."
"Then it will be easy. In terms of military affairs, we have arranged defenses. In terms of civil affairs, we can only wait for the implementation of various government affairs and the people's hearts will gradually stabilize. This is the right reason."
"Yes, once the marshal finds the girl from the Zhang family, the marshal's last concern will be settled."
"Thank you very much." Li Xia smiled casually.
Although he didn't know where Zhang Wenjing went to play, he felt relieved now that he had found out that she had not been arrested...
~~
In the next three days, Li Xia still deployed defenses in Tongguan, but Lin Zi's investigation was quite fruitful.
"Commander, we have found out that there are people north of the Yellow River who have been with their group. Did the commander personally ask?"
"Bring it back?"
"Yes, a few scholars from Jiufeng Academy. We thought that the commander-in-chief was short of scholars, so we kidnapped them directly."
Li Xia glanced at Lin Zi, nodded and said, "Okay, bring it over."
After a while, several young scholars were brought over.
Lin Zi was quite polite and pointed at one of them and said, "Please tell our commander again what you asked about."
Li Xia looked around and saw that he was a tall scholar, in his twenties, with no beard yet, broad eyebrows and wide eyes, but an elegant and calm demeanor.
"Student Yuan Congzheng, courtesy name Heyi, has met this commander."
Li Xia asked: "Your surname is 'Yuan', are you related to Mr. Yishan?"
"My grandfather and Mr. Yishan are cousins. Students should call them uncle."
"No wonder." Li Xia said, "Then maybe we still have some relatives."
Yuan Conzheng was slightly stunned, as if he didn't know what Li Xia meant when he said "no wonder", and also seemed like he didn't know what the relatives meant.
Li Xia only exchanged pleasantries and asked: "Let me tell you something I want to know first. Did you meet a group of people in July? There was a handsome man and a female Taoist priest..."