It was early September, the Yellow River was about to enter its autumn flood season, and the water in the river had swelled quite a bit.
A small boat struggled to cross the river. Two men, dressed in northern clothes with narrow sleeves on the left side, got off the boat and ran straight to Tongguan. They handed over the signal, passed the Suihong Gate, and found the forest at the gate.
"Chief, no one has arrived..."
"Commander, we have a clue."
Lin Zi was sitting there sorting out information. He raised his head and said, "You two groups came back together, and each of them said... Ah Kuan, please say it first, your matter is important."
"I have a clue. I led people to explore westward from Pujin Ferry. That side is the territory of the Jiezhou Yi family. More than half a month ago, a group of girls from the Zhang family passed by. For some reason, they turned into Zhongtiao Mountain. No.
Not long after, people from the Zhang family caught up and started a conflict with the Yi family..."
After hearing this, Lin Zi immediately dug out the information he had recently learned about the Yi family, and hurriedly got up to leave.
Another spy squeezed over and said, "Commander, I haven't said anything yet."
"If you fart quickly, where is the person who asked you to pick him up?"
"I haven't received it yet, the team is still thinking of a way..."
Lin Zi scolded: "I asked you to pick them up on August 20th. It's already the third day of September. Is it difficult to abduct the family papers of several scholars?"
"Excuse me, Commander, but the team is saying that something is wrong..."
"Isn't that right?" Lin Zi said, "Please elaborate."
"After we abducted those few scholars, Jiufeng Academy was surrounded by Mongols. The banks of the Yellow River were also patrolled intensively, and all the boats we hid on the riverbank carrying people were found. I rushed back to report the news,
It’s better to come back with A Kuan’s ship.”
Lin Zi turned to the previous spy again and asked: "Is your ship still there?"
"Here, I only have a few small boats and they are well hidden."
"We can't. We went to pick up the families of those scholars from Jiufeng Academy and brought several ships with us..."
"Did you guys tell each other about errands?" Lin Zi cursed again, vaguely aware that something was wrong, and asked again: "No one picked up?"
"There is no one, and we can't even enter the town. We disguised ourselves three times, but we couldn't even get close to Jiufeng Academy..."
"A few scholars are missing, what about it?"
Lin Zi also felt strange in his heart and turned around to see Li Xia again.
When I arrived outside the door, I saw Yuan Congzheng coming out with a bleak look on his face, minding his own business, not knowing what he was thinking, and didn't even say hello.
"Yuanxian..."
Lin Zi didn't get a response from the other party, secretly scolded him for being rude, and entered the lobby.
"Commander, we have a clue."
Li Xia was reading the letter written by Yuan Congzheng. He put it aside and turned his eyes to the forest.
Although he still had a calm expression, his eyes were clear and full of expectation.
Lin Zi stepped forward and whispered: "The Zhang family girl was near Zhongtiao Mountain half a month ago, so she hasn't gone far yet..."
He talked for a while and then handed over the information about Jiezhou Yi's family and a few scrawled maps.
The map was drawn by Li Xia himself, and it roughly showed what Shanxi looked like. Now the spies have only added a few place names.
The time they spent exploring was too short, and the realm of Shanxi was still like a fog to them.
"There will be news coming back in the next few days." Lin Zi said: "Now that the situation in Chang'an has calmed down, I will cross the river to find him for the commander."
"Prepare some manpower and I'll go there myself," Li Xia said.
"Commander?"
Lin Zi looked up and saw that although Li Xia's expression was dull, there was a light in his eyes...it was obvious that he couldn't be persuaded anymore.
"Then I will arrange my hands to protect the commander."
"Well. Liu Jinsuo and Xu Kui should be leading their troops to Tongguan in the past two days. Let's wait for them to arrive."
Li Xia had his own expectations when arranging this trip.
Lin Zi was not afraid either.
Since he started working with Li Xia, he has never said such words as "A son with a lot of money cannot sit down in court".
If someone advised him like this, he would just find it funny.
Back then, he and Li Xia were the only two people who dared to go to Bozhou to kill people. Today, they were all stabbed with knives. Since when have we started to be afraid of others?
"Since the commander-in-chief entered Chang'an, he has never been so aggrieved during this summer... he has never felt so aggrieved. It's time to show them who is the ancestor of the assassins."
"You're not talking about assassins. They're just crossing the river to pick up people." Li Xia waved his hands and said, "I used to be barefoot and not afraid of wearing my feet. If you do this in the future, the gain will outweigh the loss."
"Yes, who else in the world is worthy? Even..."
In the middle of his words, Lin Zi smiled, pursed his lips, and talked about another thing.
"In addition, Jiufeng Academy is a little strange..."
After hearing this, Li Xia looked unsurprised. He stood up and walked out of the lobby, walked up to the top of the city, and looked into the city.
"It's been a lot easier recently. How many days has Yuan Congzheng been here?"
Lin Zi responded: "I came here on the 19th of last month, half a month old. It's because I'm incompetent. The commander-in-chief wants to hire people, but I can't even catch the children of a few scholars."
"No problem, they probably didn't expect to be able to stay in Tongguan for half a month."
Lin Zi understood something and murmured: "I said that this thing is strange. Some of the scholars' homes are close to each other, and some are far away. I couldn't find them all within eleven or two days, but I didn't see any of them...
The Mongolians should guard the ferry, so what are they doing around Jiufeng Academy?"
"Is there anything else you don't understand?"
"If we say they are all craftsmen...but we took the initiative to capture them...across the Yellow River, they are staying well in Shanxi, and we..."
"Forgot? I taught you that the best way to get close to the enemy is to let the enemy come to you."
"But this is the commander-in-chief's method."
"I have used it too many times." Li Xia said, "That scholar from Bozhou, Zhou Nanzhou Yuanjiang, was lecturing in the academy. I was standing outside in good clothes and reciting poems, and he came over to talk to me; that scholar from the Kaifeng Examination Bureau
, Liu Zhongzhi Liu experienced, he checked, I only let out the news that Bai Pu came to Kaifeng, he thought that Bai Pu once had the word "Li Xia", and he took the initiative... These are not difficult to check, they must think about it
Pass me."
"But how to do this?"
"Have you met Lian Xixian?"
"No." Lin Zi shook his head.
It has only been more than a year since Li Xia regained Hanzhong. During this period, Lin Zi returned to Lin'an for more than half a year. After returning, he was preparing to ambush Wang Liangchen and conquer Liu Heima. Lin Zi was busy sending spies to help Yang Guo lure the refugees back to Longxi and Fengxiang.
The troops were too late, so they couldn't control Lian Xixian in Chang'an City.
The dignified propaganda envoys along the way are not easily seen by enemy spies.
"I'm not saying it must be...but don't you think Yuan Congzheng looks a lot like Lian Xixian?"
Lin Zi was shocked and exclaimed: "This...is this impossible?! Didn't he die in Huazhou?"
"Only when I die can I let go of my guard."
"But, many people on Huashan Mountain saw him..."
"Soldiers only look at the talismans, and Taoist priests only listen to people calling 'Lian Xiang', but does the ambush on Huashan Mountain really need Lian Xixian to personally direct it? That is the level of ordinary generals."
"But... too many people have seen Lian Xixian, how could he?"
"When Lian Xixian withdrew from Guanzhong, he first moved away a large number of officials and Confucian scholars; Shang Ting withdrew from Tongguan, leaving only an empty city. What's more, as long as he kills me, if everything goes well, he can kill me when we meet. He still needs
Who to meet?”
Lin Zi still found it incredible and said: "But he has been in Tongguan for almost half a month, isn't he afraid that someone from the Liu family will recognize him?"
Li Xia said: "Yes, it's been almost half a month, and Liu Yuanli hasn't even returned to Tongguan."
"This..." Lin Zi was horrified and said: "No wonder... I sent Niu San to escort him across the river. No wonder he asked who went to get Jindou Pass when he returned. Was it because he heard that Liu Yuanli was not in Tongguan that he dared to come back? Otherwise?
Just jump into the Yellow River?"
"It's not difficult to calculate. Guanzhong is so big. For the time being, I can only distribute the Liu family's available people to various places. There is a possibility, but not high, that he dares to bet... If it doesn't work, just assassinate me as soon as we meet.
Anyway, he would rather die than save it."
"But the chances of success are too low."
"So he failed. He failed a long time ago, didn't he?" Li Xia said: "The best strategy is to kill me in Chang'an, and the middle strategy is to kill me in Huashan. They both failed. What else can we do if we don't take the next strategy?"
Lin Zi was a little confused.
The main reason is that Li Xia never asked him to check it.
Therefore, it is always unbelievable at first glance.
"Commander, after thinking about it... I still think it's too bizarre. No matter how you look at it, it's impossible..."
"You don't have to look at it from your point of view, look at it from his point of view... Lian Xixian saw Zhang Hongdao's letter. The letter must have said that Wen Jing sent Yuan Yan to Shanxi, not to come to me. Wen Jing's specific whereabouts are unknown.
It’s difficult to find out, just ask Luoning’s daughter Zhang and you will know.”
Li Xia believed that this was also an opportunity to train his spy organization, and his tone was somewhat instructive.
"So, Lian Xixian knew that I would find Wen Jing, and I proposed marriage to the Zhang family. He thought that I had a personal relationship, and that there was a possibility of joining the Zhang family. But my search was nothing more than following Wen Jing's route.
Explore, cross the Yellow River, and go to Jiufeng Academy."
Lin Zi asked: "But why didn't he directly find the Zhang family girl and then use the commander to assassinate her when he met her?"
"If the assassination failed, wouldn't it give me a chance to convince the Zhang family?" After Li Xia said this, he smiled slightly and said: "Besides, he may not be able to find Wen Jing, and he has to hide it from Wen Jing to get close to me.
.”
"So, he was waiting at Jiufeng Academy? This is the first place we have to visit in Shanxi... So, all the scholars we brought back were from Lian Xixian? That's why we couldn't find any of them in half a month.
Their family papers..."
Lin Zi also began to follow the reasoning, but still asked: "But the commander-in-chief may not look for it himself."
"Then think about it, how did he do it?"
"He shouted to report to the police, so we captured him..."
When Lin Zi thought about it, he suddenly realized that the panic among the scholars when they saw Li Xia on August 19 was not necessarily because he had been kidnapped.
But when Jing Ke assassinated the King of Qin, Qin Wuyang was frightened?
Li Xia said: "You missed one thing. He knows best that there is a shortage of talents to govern Guanzhong, and a large number of scholars have been taken away. I care about Wen Jing and am thirsty for talents, so I may interrogate him personally. At that time, it should have been his most important time.
A good opportunity. Unfortunately, he was too...too 'perfect' before."
"Seeking perfection?"
"He hoped to kill me before Tongguan fell and take back Guanzhong as quickly as possible. Therefore, knowing that in Chang'an, Huashan's killing move would be difficult to succeed, he still deployed manpower to do it, rough and alert... Determination