"Hey, when will the rice porridge resume at Jiao Shi Pongyuan?" Outside the temple, a traveler asked in surprise.
Ordinary courtyards provide accommodation for traveling monks and laymen. In times of peace, there is always rice and porridge, but in times of war, this may not be the case.
This kind of institution was only developed in the Tang Dynasty. It was usually built on the road leading to famous temples and was prepared for monks. It can be called a post road in the Buddhist world, and pedestrians can also stay and eat.
For example, people from Hebei often go to Mount Wutai to worship Buddha. Counting from the Zhulin Temple at the south entrance of Mount Wutai, there is Stop Point Common Temple 30 miles to the south, Jiaoshi Common Hall 30 miles east, Tea Shop Common Hall 50 miles further east, and so on.
Twenty miles east there is Zhanghua Common Courtyard...
"The King of Jin passed away, and the princess sent people to Mount Wutai to worship the Buddha, and for King Jin's salvation, she gave a lot of property." A businessman with a Hedong accent said: "Well, they were beaten back and forth, even for a big place like Mount Wutai.
Life in the jungle is difficult."
When the traveler heard this, he also sighed and said: "Zhenzhou is being fought back and forth, and the troops are in chaos. I wanted to enter Taiyuan from Jingxing, but there are troops passing there, which scares people to death. It seems that we can't go to Hedong. By the way.
, when did King Jin die?"
"Last month." The merchant took a sip of wine and said, "The mourning envoys quickly went to the states and counties to make announcements. I guess the whole Hedong Province knows about it."
"Then..." Xinglu swallowed and said cautiously: "Once the King of Jin died, could it be that the various princes were fighting for the throne and the rebel army was wreaking havoc?"
"Fight for a position!" The merchant sneered: "The petitioner is calling in the name of the Great Xia court. It is posted at the gate of Wutai County. You can go and read it yourself."
"Is this... a surrender? The Li family surrendered?" Xing Lu asked.
"It's better if it falls." The merchant sighed: "You don't know, but I was selling goods from Taiyuan to the north. As soon as I left Shiling Pass, the town general An Yuanxin blocked the traffic. It was so dangerous, the goods were almost lost to the gang of warriors.
Robbed."
Traveling in silence.
He sorted out his thoughts and roughly figured out one thing: Li Keyong was dead, and many people surrendered to the Xia Kingdom. However, warriors like An Yuanxin refused to accept it and raised troops to fight. Hedong was about to be killed!
"Anyuan Nobun will not grow long." Xinglu suddenly said.
"Why?" the merchant asked curiously: "This man is good at caring for the soldiers and has a good reputation. He is also located in a key area of Shiling Pass, which is not easy to attack. Once the stalemate continues and someone raises troops to respond to the situation, there will be an attack."
"You know I came from Jingxing, but you don't know what I saw." The traveler sighed: "The mountains and plains are full of Xia soldiers. Banners cover the sky and the sun, chariots and horses crowd the post roads, and the soldiers almost fill the sky.
Ling. If there is no guarantee of victory, why are so many people flocking to the Chengtian Army? You also know that the Chengtian Army cannot move away if there are too many people. The Xia people are obviously confident in doing this, at least the Chengtian Army
The general surrendered. Once Jingxing was broken, the army marched straight into Taiyuan, and the road was smooth. I think An Yuanxin is worried about being attacked from the north and the south."
"That's right." The merchant put down his wine bowl and said, "No matter how he is beaten, I will go to Dingzhou to join my brother. Hedong is so bad, I might as well go to Hebei."
Traveling is speechless.
Some people left Hedong in a hurry and took refuge in Hebei. But he left Hebei and took refuge in Hedong.
"There are disasters everywhere in Hebei and Hedong, but I only hear that there is little dust in Guanzhong. If you want to take refuge, you should go to Guanzhong." A man came over with a horse from outside the post road. Looking at his attire, he turned out to be a martial artist.
Businessmen and travelers stopped talking.
The martial artist is moody, and if he beats or scolds you, you will have no choice but to suffer. There is nothing you can do about it.
"What do you think I do?" Wu Fu sat down next to the two of them. Seeing steamed cakes, fruits and wine on the table, he picked them up and ate them.
The merchant's face turned pale and he subconsciously wanted to stop it, but he held it back.
Xing Lu wanted to get up and say goodbye, but he didn't dare.
"Look at what a bear you are!" Wu Fu took out a handful of money from his pocket and threw it in front of the businessman, saying, "I'm too lazy to move, so I'll go to the rice seller and bring me a bowl of almond porridge. You can keep the rest of the money for yourself. I won’t eat yours for free.”
The merchant's face suddenly turned rosy, and he immediately stood up and walked into the back room of the wine shop.
Almond porridge is a traditional food in Hebei.
"Boil japonica rice and wheat into cheese, pound almonds, and cook them into porridge." "Nowadays, people know that barley porridge is made, grind almonds into cheese, and ferment it."
Cold food, before the Qingming Festival comes, stores will prepare a large amount of ingredients and sell them until May - this kind of food is also the festival food of Hebei cold food.
"You idiot, stop staring at me. After you finish eating, hurry back to Zhenzhou." Wu Fu laughed and scolded: "Wang Rong won't be able to jump around for a few days. I'm going to Daizhou now - —”
Halfway through Wu Fu's words, his expression suddenly changed. Knowing that he was getting carried away, he just lowered his head to eat and drink without saying a word.
The traveler saw that this warrior didn't seem to be very vicious, so he had the courage to ask, "General, are you from Zhenzhou? I am from Zhenzhou, Xingtang County..."
"Noisy!" Wu Fu slammed the table and the wine spilled everywhere.
Xing Lu did not dare to speak anymore and bowed his head to apologize.
"That's all." Seeing how pitiful he was, the martial artist sighed: "Ten days ago, there was civil strife in Zhenzhou. The judge Zhou Shi led his servants to rush to kill him at night, trying to open the city gate, but was killed by the guards. Since then, he has been killed many times. There are generals and officials who spend money to bribe sergeants and let down the city at night. I see, there is no need to attack this broken city. The Zhao people will kill themselves sooner or later."
"That's it?!" Xing Lu was surprised.
"Hmph!" Wu Fu sneered and said: "If you don't leave the city, are you waiting to die? I have been squatting under Zhenzhou City for several months and I am already angry. There is a rumor in the army that when this city is broken, no one will be left alive. I You have to kill all these thieves."
The traveler felt a chill and couldn't bear it, so he said: "Sage Ruo Ping Hedong, Zhenzhou, has already covered the northern land, in the middle of Shu. Since the difficult times, no one has had such a large base. Seeing that the peaceful and prosperous age is coming, how can he do it? A mass killing?"
"You don't even look at how many people we have died!" Wu Fu looked at the traveler up and down, and finally stopped at his neck and said with a smile: "A neck as thin as a stick, I can break it with one hand. , but you are so brazen, get out of my sight quickly. The most useless thing in the world is a hairy awl, haha!"
The traveler didn't know why Wufu suddenly turned against him, so he silently packed his luggage and left with the donkey.
The merchant came over with a large bowl of almond porridge, looked at the traveler in surprise, then looked at the martial artist, but said nothing.
"I heard you are going to Dingzhou?" Wu Fu took the porridge bowl and asked while eating and drinking.
"Exactly."
"Go. What that Mao Zhuizi said just now is right. When the army enters the east of the river, there may be a war. A gentleman will not stand behind a dangerous wall. When everything is calmed down, it will not be too late to go home and take a look." Wu Fu San
After finishing the porridge in two gulps, he threw the empty bowl in front of the merchant and said, "Go get another bowl."
The merchant didn't waste any time and stood up immediately.
****
Just as the merchants, travelers, and warriors were talking, Fu Cunshen, the envoy of the Jingxing Chengtian Army, arrived in Yuci County.
There was a mess outside the county town, and the brutal fighting had just ended.
Hundreds of soldiers knelt on the ground in fear.
Someone cried out to Qu: "I was plowing the fields at home, but I was summoned out of nowhere. I didn't know what was going on, so I just followed Shangguan to kill, and I was defeated out of nowhere. What an injustice!"
Someone begged for mercy: "I just want some reward money, I really don't want to block Master Wang."
Someone sighed: "If I hadn't owed Commander Zhang a favor, I wouldn't have come here. That's all, everyone is destined to die, and death means death."
Fu Cunzhen frowned and glanced at the surrendered soldiers, and said: "After screening, the Tutuan villagers will be released on the spot. The martial artists will be imprisoned and will be sent to Peking to repair the palace city in the future."
"As ordered." A primary school student responded.
Fu Cunshen took another look at Yuci County, which he had just captured, and said, "Kong Qing, why are you still standing there? You've been blocked by a little Yuci for two days. If something serious happens, I'll behead you."
"The coordinator..." Kong Qing's face turned pale.
"Select those who can ride a horse and follow me to Jinyang." Fu Cunshen flicked his whip and ordered.
"As ordered." Kong Qing responded loudly.
They set out from Zhenzhou and marched all the way. The Chengtian Army's general Li Chengyue surrendered as expected. Among the five thousand defenders, three thousand native Tuan folk returned to their homes and dispersed in a flurry, and two thousand warriors also ran away.
He spent hundreds of dollars, almost leaving Li Chengyue with nothing.
After passing the Chengtian Army, two thousand elite soldiers of the Youguo Army arrived in Guangyang County. They encountered the county magistrate and two thousand Xiangyong heading eastward, and defeated them in a battle.
At this time, Kong Qing, who was the vanguard, had to lament that there was indeed a reason why Hedong could hold out until now. The Chengtian Army had surrendered. When the county magistrate in the rear heard about it, he actually summoned the local warriors to intercept it and buy time for the rear.
However, his death was meaningless.
After resting for a night in Guangyang County, we headed west to Shouyang without stopping, and Shouyang arrived.
Go to Yuci again.
Yuci ordered to open the city and surrender in accordance with the shogunate's order, but was killed by the county soldiers. Kong Qing was furious and made weapons to attack the city and liberated it in two days.
Fu Cunshen was impatient with waiting and pursued him from behind with a thousand cavalry.
He had just received news that the army had gone north from Heyang and had a smooth journey. It had entered Zezhou and was preparing to march to Luzhou.
Liu Yancong, the commander of the silver spear, and Shi Jingrong, the commander of the guard's golden spear, have sent envoys to negotiate for surrender.
Zhang Wanjin, the deputy commander of the Huangjia Army in front of the hall, has not yet expressed his position.
But no matter what Zhang Wanjin's final choice was, it was a fact that the South Road was progressing rapidly. Considering that Zelu was the focus of the Jin army's defense and had a large number of troops, the fact that the strategic army could still achieve such results really put them in a league of its own.
Therefore, Fu Cunshen was a little anxious. He wanted to be the first to enter Jinyang.
A messenger was rushing from not far away.
"The envoy received the news from Jinyang. After Li Kening left Lanzhou, he went to Loufan to supervise Mucheng. When he learned about Ke Yong's death, he stopped and seemed to have something in mind." The messenger reported.
"What's the situation in Jinyang?" Fu Cunzhen asked.
Li Kening's actions were within his expectations.
You can't expect everyone to be honest. Either they are unwilling, or they are confused by the rhetoric, or they are extremely bold. It is not surprising that they make this choice.
"Li Kerou stayed in Jinyang. I heard that he has been ordered to seal up the treasury until Wang Shida arrives." the messenger replied.
"No wait!" Fu Cunshen turned the horse's head and said: "Li Kening is a rat! If I were him, I would have to rush to Jinyang at this time no matter what, to fight for the chance. But he hesitated upstairs.
Before, this was called the way to death. Let’s go to Jinyang! I’m worried that Li Kerou won’t be able to control the situation.”
After that, he waved his whip and took the lead. Qianqi followed closely behind, heading west.