It was the seventh day of the fifth lunar month in the second year of Xuanhe in the Song Dynasty.
Qingzhou has almost all its elites.
With Yue Fei as the chief general and Han Shizhong as the deputy general, they led nearly 50,000 cavalry out of Qingzhou in a mighty force, galloped towards Henan, and then detoured around Qinfeng to reach the border of Xixia.
On the other side, Hu Sanniang and Liang Hongyu led a thousand female soldiers to escort Emperor Chongde, who was marrying Xixia, and then moved slowly.
On the other side, Wang Lin led Yan Qing and two thousand tiger god guards under Yan Qing's command to attack the Hexi Corridor through thousands of miles from Hebei.
Almost at the same time, Chao Gai and Lu Zhishen set fire to the Liangshan Dazhai, set fire to five thousand soldiers and horses in Liangshan, swept away all gold, silver, property and grain reserves, and led their troops north to Dengzhou.
Fifty thousand cavalry is Wang Lin's entire possessions so far.
Except for Hua Rong and Huang Xin who guarded Qinglai, Guan Sheng, Xu Ning, Wu Song and others guarded the capital, all the powerful generals under his command were sent out.
Yue Fei, Yan Qing, Han Shizhong, Zhang Jun, Liu Guangshi, Lu Junyi, Hu Yanzhuo, Dong Ping, Yan Shun, Zheng Tianshou, Zhou Tong, Yang Zhi, Suo Chao, Luan Tingyu, Li Kui, Shi Jin, Hu Sanniang, Liang Hongyu, Tang Huai,
Wang Gui, Niu Gao, Hu Cheng...
With 50,000 cavalry, Yue Fei ordered the whole group to be dispatched from the center.
Yan Qing commanded 10,000 tiger guards, and Han Shizhong, Lu Junyi, Hu Yanzhuo, and Dong Ping each commanded 10,000 troops.
The other generals all obeyed orders under the five-man tent.
The second year of Xuanhe in the Song Dynasty, May 27th.
An iron cavalry broke into Dingyuan City, which was under the jurisdiction of Qin Feng Road. This was the most prosperous city close to the border between Song and Xia.
The hot wind is blowing, and the scenery of Ganlong is very different from that of Hebei and Shandong. This lonely city lies across the boundless Gobi Desert. At a glance, it looks desolate and simple.
Two thousand tired Tiger Guards camped outside the city. The soldiers each took off their ration bags and water bottles from their horses, stuffed a handful of fried noodles into their mouths, and drank another sip of water.
This is of course Wang Lin’s original marching ration.
I still remember that "a bite of fried noodles, a bite of snow" became synonymous with our army on the Korean battlefield.
The transportation of grain and fodder during large-scale military operations is a huge project.
In order to improve the marching speed, Wang Lin popularized fried noodles among the Qingzhou army.
The long cloth bag carried by each Qingzhou soldier contains powder made from rice and miscellaneous grains. It can be eaten directly with water and can last for 16 days if necessary.
According to Wang Lin's recipe, fried noodles are basically made of 70% flour, 30% other rice flour, plus 0.5% snowflake salt, stir-fried and mixed evenly. Each bag contains 20 kilograms, making it easy for cavalry to carry.
Of course, this kind of fried noodles has no nutritional value at all. It can only satisfy your hunger temporarily and is not suitable for long-term consumption.
Wang Lin rode on his horse and looked at the more distant place behind Dingyuan City, but he could only see white clouds and gray dogs.
Yan Qing galloped over and handed over a pack of hot sauced meat: "Your Majesty, please eat some meat. We have only eaten fried noodles along the way, and we can feel like a bird in our mouths."
Wang Lin was not polite, took it, took a big bite, and asked while swallowing: "Where are the army and the peace envoy?"
"We have arrived in Suzhou. Liu Yanqing of Lin Mansion and Qin Feng's Qu Duan both sent troops and horses to intercept our army, but Yue Fei repulsed us with an official document from the Privy Council and a gold medal given by the prince."
Wang Lin pondered for a moment and then said: "The army is temporarily camped in Suzhou, and the pro-envoys are rushing to Dingxi to prepare to join us."
…
Dingyuan City.
In terms of scale, this city is at most only a few tenths of the size of Qingzhou City.
However, it is located on the border between the two countries and is a gathering place for merchants. Therefore, the flow of people is booming, which is quite impressive.
Wang Lin and Yan Qing entered Dingyuan City incognito with several Tiger God Guards. The scene in front of them actually didn't look like Han people anymore.
To be precise, there are very few Han people, and foreigners, such as Xixia people, Tubo people, people from the Western Regions, or even more distant Mongols, who are several times the number of Han people, occupy most of the entire city.
Almost all the streets in the city are filled with shops selling food, wine and meat, and there are many barbecue vendors on the street. The aroma of burnt meat is mixed with the smell of sweat and dust, giving off a choking stench.
There was a huge crowd of people in front of them. Wang Lin, Yan Qing and others were walking leisurely. Standing on the periphery, they saw a strange sight through the crowd:
There was a woman lying on a wooden board, naked.
This woman's cheekbones are prominent and her eye sockets are sunken. At first glance, she is definitely not Han Chinese.
A strong man was holding a machete, which looked like a sharp knife for slaughtering cattle, but it didn't seem like it. He stood next to the woman and shouted: "Sell it for a penny in whole pieces, and fifty cents in small pieces!"
"Look carefully, I will cut off whatever piece you like in the photo!"
The onlookers burst into laughter, and among them there were actually many people dressed as Han government officials.
Wang Lin gasped: Selling people alive?
Or is he the legendary "vegetarian"?
Although there was chaos in the late Northern Song Dynasty, it didn't reach the point of cannibalism, right?
Wang Lin winked.
Yan Qing immediately took out a piece of silver from his arms and threw it over: "This woman, someone bought her, let her go!"
The man's upper body was bare, with dazzling black hair on his chest.
He flipped the piece of silver given by Yan Qing and laughed with satisfaction: "Your Majesty, please take a look. This is just a Xixia woman, not worth the money. But if you are willing to give it, I will sell it, but I will sell it."
The ugly words have been spoken at the beginning, the purchase is gone, and it cannot be returned!"
Yan Qing sneered: "Stop talking nonsense and let me go."
The man stopped talking nonsense and directly cut off the rope that bound the woman with his knife.
The woman shivered and stood up, climbed up from the wooden board, and then to everyone's surprise, she neither thanked Wang Lin and others, nor turned around and ran away, but swooped up and bit the man.
Man's thighs.
Before anyone could react, the Xixia woman had bitten off a piece of meat from the man's leg, her mouth was full of blood, and she spat it out on the ground.
The man screamed in pain and stabbed the woman in the chest with the sharp knife in his hand.
Wang Lin frowned and suddenly kicked the man out with a flying kick.
As Wang Lin expected, most people who could make a living in border towns, especially those who openly peddled vegetables like that man, had connections with the government.
Wang Lin and his party rescued this woman named Yilu. In fact, she was not from Xixia, but from Uighur. She was originally a good girl, but she was deceived by the Uighur caravan. After several twists and turns, she was sold to Dingyuan in the Song Dynasty.
city.
They walked around the city again, and just as they were about to leave the city, they saw an army of more than a hundred soldiers and horses outflanking them from the east of the city. The leader was the man who was kicked away by Wang Lin.
…
Dingyuan was under the jurisdiction of Xincheng County. The county prime minister Ma Wensheng and the garrison leader Song Lin who were stationed in Xincheng County in Dingyuan City heard that the imperial envoy had arrived and rushed over with their men in panic.
Seeing that Wang Lin was well-dressed and elegant, he guessed that he was a big shot in the court. He looked up and caught a glimpse of the Qi King's token in Yan Qing's hand. He was so frightened that he knelt on the ground and confessed.
"Your Majesty, if I didn't know that Your Majesty was coming, I would be guilty of death. Please ask Your Majesty to move to the city to rest." Ma Wensheng kowtowed repeatedly.
At this time, the two thousand tiger guards stationed outside the city had already arrived at the bottom of the city.
Wang Lin originally came to the border just to check and understand the situation of the Xixia army, but from Dingyuan City, it seemed that the Xixia people had deployed heavy troops in Jingyuan City on the right and in the direction to the north.
Wang Lin said calmly: "Ma Xian Cheng, there are traders selling human flesh in our territory of the Song Dynasty. As officers and soldiers, you turned a deaf ear to it. What crime should you do?"
Ma Wensheng smiled bitterly and said: "Your Majesty, you don't know. This is the same as in the cities on the border of Xixia. We have very few Han people and most of them are barbarians. Therefore, when foreigners sell each other, the locals basically turn a blind eye.
Generally not investigated..."
"Of course, if foreigners dare to insult our Han people, that is a different matter. They will be severely punished!"
Wang Lin frowned: "That's all, I'd like to ask you, Xixia has hundreds of thousands of soldiers on our border, why is there no space here in Dingyuan City?"
Ma Wensheng said: "Returning to the prince, this place is an important place for the Uighurs, Xixia and the caravans of other countries in the Western Regions. We, the Song Dynasty, set up the distant city mainly to collect taxes."
"Xixia has indeed deployed heavy troops on our border recently, but most of them are in the direction of Weizhou and Jingyuan. Therefore, there is a large desert between Xingzhou, the capital of the Xixia people, and the army cannot deploy. Therefore, the Xixia people have never set up heavy troops here."
"How can the merchant get there?"
"Back to your lord, merchants usually go down the river from Xingzhou, the capital of Western Xia, to Dingyuan, and then go to Tubo or the southwest of the Song Dynasty."
Down the river... Wang Lin pondered, this was obviously the Yellow River.
If this is the case, his plan to lead an army to raid the Xixia capital from Dingyuan will basically come to nothing.
Crossing the vast desert, don’t even think about it.
Wang Lin wanted to train his troops, but he couldn't just watch the soldiers die.
Thinking of this, Wang Lin waved his hand and said: "Okay, you guys, please step back. I will escort Emperor Chongde and Xixia Xixia, and will stay in Dingxicheng temporarily.
Please report Qu Duan immediately and negotiate with the Xixia people as soon as possible. At least next month, I will escort Emperor Chongde to Xixia for marriage!"
…
Wang Lin led two thousand tiger guards to temporarily repair and replenish supplies in Dingyuan City for a day.
However, he refused Ma Wensheng's request to enter the city for resettlement, and still camped outside the city with his troops.
Yan Qing ordered people to light a fire and roast a lamb sent by Ma Wensheng.
The Uighur woman named Yilu changed into a set of clothes from the Song Dynasty, washed her face, and looked quite pretty.
Yilu knelt beside Wang Lin and assisted the soldiers in cutting the freshly roasted mutton with a blade.
"Your Majesty, since the Dingyuan direction is not feasible, we can only attack Lingzhou from the Jingyuan direction. This Lingzhou was originally my hometown of the Song Dynasty, and the previous dynasty was occupied by the Xixia people."
"But on this line, Xixia has deployed heavy defenses. If our army wants to advance, the casualties will not be small. And if we cannot capture the Xixia King's City in the shortest time, we will be surrounded by the Xixia army."
"Besides, we have to cross the river..."
Yilu, who was standing next to him, suddenly interjected in blunt Chinese: "Your Majesty, this official in Dingyuan City is not a good person. He has an affair with the Xixia people, and all the passing caravans will be skinned by him."
"He didn't tell the truth. From Dingyuan, take a detour to Xiliang, and then go northeast, you can avoid the desert and reach the Xixia Royal City directly."
"I have walked this road."
Wang Lin suddenly looked at Yilu, but didn't speak for a long time.
If Ma Wensheng's words are not trustworthy, then this strange foreign woman may not be trustworthy either.