() That night, the team transporting supplies arrived. Fortunately, Liu Zhiyuan, the prefect of Jiezhou, collected more than 100 carts, allowing Su Jin to relieve his urgent need. The 400 Xixia war horses could only temporarily be reduced to pulling carts.
Bad horses, who call them surrendered animals?
In the early morning of the next day, Su Jin and Fan Zhongyan jointly wrote a summary of the victory, and then compiled a list of the dead soldiers and arranged for their pensions. These soldiers were all from the vicinity of Bianliang. It was too far to transport the bodies back, so Fan Zhongyan made the decision.
He was cremated and fifty soldiers were sent to take the ashes and the list of names back to the capital.
Since Fan Zhongyan was here, the grain and grass supplies were naturally delivered on the spot, but military pay was not released for the time being. Su Jin explained to Fan Zhongyan about opening a bank in Weizhou. Fan Zhongyan was greatly surprised. He did not expect that the emperor actually agreed to the general's salary.
The money is exchanged from the private bank opened by the Su family, but this is very convenient and saves the worry of being robbed on the road, but there is nothing to say.
When everything was settled, Su Jin and Fan Zhongyan each led their troops and horses to leave Jiezhou, heading east to Qinfeng Road and north to Yanzhou, and then went their separate ways.
After four days of slow march, the large group of troops finally arrived at Qinfeng Road. The administrative seat of Qinfeng Road is Qinzhou. The road envoy and governor of the state is the famous Han Qi. Han Qi and Fan Zhongyan are the two pillars of the northwest.
Sitting on Qinfeng Road and the original Yongxing Military Road is the guarantee that the situation in the northwest will not collapse.
Su Jin was also deeply honored. Being able to meet the famous ministers of this era was like a dream for Su Jin. Han Qi was tall, with a long face and a dignified appearance, but he sometimes looked angry and angry.
He spoke very mercilessly and criticized various affairs of the imperial court. He seemed to be an "angry old man". Even though Yan Shu wrote a letter to him, asking him to look after Su Jin, Han Qi still expressed his dissatisfaction with the imperial court.
The magistrate of Weizhou, who was not as young as a weakling, was quite critical of him. Even in front of Su Jin, he did not hide his contempt.
"So what about the number one scholar? The imperial examination is one thing, being an official is another, and coming to the northwest border to be an official is even more. I hope that Su, the number one scholar, will not cry and beg to resign."
Su Jin already had selective immunity to this kind of look down on him. Before coming, Yan Shu had talked to him about some of the tempers of Han Qi and Fan Zhongyan, so he was somewhat mentally prepared;
The battle at Zuiya was quite complimentary, and he did not hide his compliments at all. He just did not forget to hit the stick when he praised him, and warned Su Jin not to be complacent about it. In the final analysis, he encountered Li Ningming, who was not knowledgeable enough.
The rookie.
Opposite Weizhou are stationed the armies of two Xixia military divisions. In the front is the Youxiang Chaoshun Military Division, and in the back is the Baotai Military Division stationed in Huizhou. Each has more than 50,000 people, totaling more than 100,000 troops. And where Weizhou is located
The total number of troops on the Jingyuan Road is less than 50,000. Regardless of armaments, just looking at the number of people, the strength and weakness are clear at a glance.
The commanders of the Chaoshun Military Division and the Baotai Military Division were both veterans and cunning men who had experienced many battles. As soon as Su Jin left the study room, he was about to face the joint suppression of the two military divisions. The critical situation was evident.
Su Jin received a ladle of cold water from Fan Zhongyan and Han Qi each, and finally became cautious. Han and Fan were the souls of the Northwest army. Both of them had a thorough understanding of the situation in the Northwest, and what they said was definitely not true.
Sensational and exaggerated words, Su Jin naturally understood the seriousness of the problem.
However, Su Jin was not a person who would admit defeat. After his stubborn temper rose, he was extremely looking forward to the upcoming challenges. When handling food services, he also felt the same way, as if he had no idea what to do, and his life was still in danger at that time.
I am just an envoy with no official position. If I hadn't borrowed the gold medal given by the emperor, I wouldn't have been able to do many things. Now, as a dignified fourth-grade prefect, I am shrinking and stagnating. How can this be justified?
After staying in Qinzhou for half a day, Su Jin took 500 horse guards, Su Ji's men, Xiao Sui'er and Xia Siling all the way north to Weizhou.
The further north you go, the more desolate and desolate the scene becomes. The vast land on both sides of the official road is cracked by the heat of the sun. There are very few trees and grass. Even if there are, they are yellow and wilted, looking half-dead. The villages along the way are dilapidated.
It's unbearable, obviously the war has swept through here; as far as you can see, it's full of exposed loess, the strong wind blows, and the dust is flying, which is charming to the eyes.
Su Jin secretly clicked his tongue. The conditions were indeed difficult. It seemed that this trip was really hard work. The flat loess land did not last long. One day later, after climbing over several upward mountains, Su Jin suddenly discovered to his surprise.
, a majestic and continuous mountain range can be seen in the distance, and the white snow on the top of the mountain is clearly visible. It is the first time for those who are accompanying me to come here, and I don’t know which mountain it is, but it is summer, and there is something on the top of the mountain.
It's snowy, so the height will certainly not be low.
I ran to death while looking at the mountain. Although I saw that the mountain was not far away, after walking for a long time, the mountain was still far away. Instead, I encountered several large rivers, which must have been formed by the melted snow water on the mountain flowing down.
.
Su Jin felt at ease. Places with mountains and water were not too bad. If the war ended, agricultural production could continue. Maybe he would lead people to dig canals, build roads, and develop water conservancy projects in the future.
In the evening, Su Jin and others finally arrived outside the south gate of Weizhou City. Under the sunset, the city walls of Weizhou City looked unusually tall and strong. The city gates were closed tightly, and soldiers on the city walls kept coming and going, looking alert.
A strict look.
There were soldiers shooting arrows in the distance to warn, and the sight of a cavalry of hundreds of people made the soldiers on the top of the city alert.
"Who is coming? Don't get close to the city gate, otherwise the arrows will have no eyes." Someone shouted.
Wang Chao rode up to the cage and shouted: "The new Weizhou magistrate, Mr. Su, has come to take office. Please open the door as soon as possible to welcome him."
The soldiers on the top of the city were startled, and someone immediately reported it to the general who was guarding the city. Not long after, a man with a full beard went up to the city tower and shouted loudly: "You can't open the city gate without the approval of the king's envoy.
Please stay for a moment, someone has already gone to report to Mr. Wang."
Ma Han jumped to his feet and shouted: "You are very courageous. When the new magistrate arrived, you turned away the door. You will suffer from it in the future."
Su Jin quickly stopped and said, "What are you talking about? Weizhou is the frontline border town, so you should be careful. These soldiers are just obeying orders."
Ma Han said: "You don't even look at how we are dressed. How can a Xixia dog be dressed like this?"
Su Jin scolded: "Isn't it easy to dress up? Tuoba Feng and others who assassinated the Liao envoy were disguised as Han people and sneaked into the capital. If you hadn't caught them, you would never have recognized them even if you met them.
Dangxiang people, now you are also the leader of the cavalry army, so you have to act wisely and don't talk nonsense."
Ma Han said oh, and suddenly reached out and took out a piece of cloth from his arms and tied it on his face. Su Jin asked in shock: "What are you doing?"
Ma Han said: "I followed the master's orders and acted wisely. My appearance will definitely frighten the ladies and daughters-in-law when I enter the city, so I tied it up with a cloth to prevent others from being frightened."
Everyone laughed loudly, and Su Jin laughed and cursed: "There is really no way. It is not easy to think of this, but didn't you think that when you covered us with a cloth, it would make us look more sneaky and have evil intentions?"
Ma Han was stunned, and quickly stretched out his hand to pull off his scarf and said: "That's right, it's like a strongman robbing families and homes."
After about a stick of incense, there was movement at the city gate. The tall suspension bridge was lowered with a bang, and the city gate slowly opened. A group of Song soldiers galloped out on horseback, and came to Su Jin and others. They lined up their postures, bent their bows and set arrows.
Aim at everyone.
Ma Han couldn't help shouting again: "You guys should be careful, it's not good if you can't hold the arrow and shoot it out and hurt someone."
At this moment, another group of infantry followed a man out of the city gate. The man had a white beard and looked very strong. He looked up and down at Su Jin and others. An accompanying official said loudly: "Excuse me, where are you?"
Is this the new Governor Su?"
Su Jin cupped his hands and said, "It's me."
The official looked at Su Jin and said doubtfully: "Is it you? Are you the new Lord of the Palace?"
Su Jin smiled and said: "Isn't it like that? Dynasty, show him the documents."
Wang Chao handed over the appointment document. The man glanced at it and hurriedly handed it to the old man beside him. The old man looked at it carefully, suddenly smiled on his face, cleared his throat and said, "Sure enough, Mr. Su has come all the way."
"Old old Wang Yan, I'm late to greet you. I'm rude."
Su Jin quickly stepped forward and saluted: "It is indeed Wang Lushi. Your subordinate Su Jin has met Wang Lushi."
Then Wang Yan laughed and said: "You are finally here, and I can go back to the capital to enjoy peace and happiness. Please hurry up."
The group of people entered the city in a mighty manner, the heavy city gate was closed again, and the suspension bridge was pulled up high. After a while, the city gate returned to calm.
After the sun set in the west, twilight quickly enveloped the earth. The temperature difference between day and night here was huge. As soon as the sun set, the sky and the earth suddenly became colder, but a fire was lit in Su Jin's heart, which was about all the unknown things in the future.
The fire of hope inspired; what kind of future will be waiting for him in this fortress.