Daci Mountain was formerly known as Baohua Mountain. It is located outside Lin'an City in the Fuquan Mountains. It towers into the clouds and stretches for dozens of miles. There is a Xiushui Ao in the middle. Later, because Shi Miyuan, the prime minister of the Southern Song Dynasty, buried his loving mother here, it was renamed "Daqi Mountain". This Daci Mountain is quite
It is unique. The scenery at its eastern foot is beautiful, with many mountains.
The forest is deep and the rocks are secluded. It is shaded by pines and camphors. It is surrounded by mountains. There is a small stream in the middle. The mountains and rivers complement each other. It is like a fairyland. It has the aura of Feng Shui. In the southwest, there are overgrown weeds and rocks. It is cold all day long.
It's compelling. Even on a sunny day, it makes people feel eerie.
An eminent monk from Ashoka Temple once said that the aura of the Fuquan Mountains is concentrated at the eastern foot of Baohua Mountain. The feng shui of the rest of the place is barren and there will be no improvement within three hundred years.
In his later years, Shi Miyuan believed in the Feng Shui religion. He successively built Baohua Temple, Wukong Temple, Miaozhi Temple and other temples in Daci Mountain. He also built Taoist temples such as Taiqing Palace, Zhende Temple, and Wuzhen Temple as summer resorts for the royal family.
In short, the eastern foot of Daci Mountain was very prosperous during Shi Miyuan's reign. However, at the southern foot of Daci Mountain, there was only one inconspicuous and dilapidated temple - Guhan Temple.
One hundred and forty years ago, the Fangla Uprising occurred in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui. At its peak, it once occupied the center of the two Zhejiang roads. Lin'an was suppressed by the government. The descendants of the Fang family who had a chance to escape took the name of the Tiandao Alliance.
The name was hidden until the fall of the Northern Song Dynasty. After Emperor Gaozong went south, it gradually came to light. But it only existed as a martial arts gang.
Guhan Temple is a secret stronghold affiliated to the Tiandao Alliance. However, this stronghold outside Lin'an City was set up by the fourth-generation elder of the Tiandao Alliance. It only obeys the orders of the Wang family, the hereditary elder. Even the previous leader of the alliance, Fang
Even Chen Yi didn’t know.
That night, under the cover of darkness, six elders including Yang Lianzhenjia, Fang Chenqian and Wang Shangyuan quietly sneaked into Guhan Temple and held final discussions on the attack on the Gunpowder Supervisor.
At 15:00 the next day (3:15 in the morning), Fenghuang Village, located five miles outside the north gate of Lin'an City, suddenly burst into flames.
The sky-high flames illuminated the night sky. The North Gate guard who first discovered the fire immediately reported the situation to Zhao Bao, the Admiral of the Nine Gates in charge of city defense, and the late governor of Lin'an Prefecture. When Zhao Bao got the news and rushed to the North Gate, he happened to see the fire.
Qian Daoyou was arguing with the soldiers guarding the gate.
Fenghuang Village falls under the jurisdiction of Lin'an Prefecture. As the parent of Lin'an City, it was natural that he wanted to send people to put out the fire and rescue. However, the soldiers guarding the city insisted not to open the city gates. So the two sides had a dispute. During the war, the gates of Lin'an City were
There are strict regulations on the closing time. Apart from the palace, only the Nine Gate Admiral Zhao Bao has the right to open the city gate during the closing period.
As soon as Qian said that he saw Zhao Bao coming, he hurriedly said: "Please give the order from General Zhao. Qian needs to send an official to Fenghuang Village to understand the situation and organize rescue."
"Okay. Open the door."
"Thank you, General Zhao." Qian Shuoyu turned to the dozen or so government officials behind him and said, "Go and check the situation. I am waiting here."
"Yes, sir."
Only a quarter of an hour later, these ten government officials hurried back to the north gate. There was also a commoner who returned with them.
"What's going on?" Zhao Bao and Qian Shuoyou looked at each other and said.
It is about five miles from the north gate to Fenghuang Village. No matter how fast these government officials are, it will take at least three quarters of an hour to go back and forth.
Chen Yu, the head of the government office, took a breath. He pointed to the commoner beside him and said, "Sir, this is Zhou Guang, a villager in Fenghuang Village. He is familiar with me. Zhou Guang, please tell Qian in detail what happened in Fenghuang Village." grown ups."
Under the light of the city gate, Qian Shuoyou saw that the face of the villager named Zhou Guang was pale and his words were incoherent. Fortunately, Qian Shuoyou and Zhao Bao could still understand a general outline.
About half an hour ago, Zhou Guang was awakened from his sleep by a burst of shouting. He looked out the window and saw countless masked men in black rushing into the village from the east and west. After entering, they lit fires everywhere. Zhou Guang was originally A border soldier. He retired due to a disabled hand. His parents are dead. He lives alone in the southernmost part of Fenghuang Village. He is quite courageous on weekdays. When he sees something is wrong, he sneaks out from the back door of his house and hides in a very secluded place. In the light of the fire, Zhou Guang saw the flags erected by these men in black. Zhou Guang, who had been on the battlefield, recognized it at a glance. This was the battle flag of the Mongolian Qixue Army. At that time, Zhou Guang's arm was He was chopped down by Qie Xue's army. So he still has fresh memories of Mongolia's Qie Xue.
Hearing the last words spoken by Zhou Guang, Zhao Bao was shocked and said: "What? How many people are there in Xue Jun's cowardice?"
Although Zhou Guang did not know Zhao Bao, his many years of military experience allowed him to recognize at a glance that the general who asked the question was a commander. This was the highest-ranking Song Army general Zhou Guang had ever seen. He quickly gave a military salute and said: "This general has been in the army for many years. He has fought against the Mongolian army. He knows the flag of the Xue army. But those people are all dressed in black and their faces are covered. It is hard to tell whether it is. The Mongols are really timid. As for the number of people, there are about six or seven hundred."
Zhao Bao felt a chill in his heart. Without thinking, he said to a guard beside him: "Instruct the defenders at each city gate to take strict precautions. The Seventh Army must assemble urgently."
Although the potential talker has heard of the name of Mongolian coward Xue, he is not a military general after all. He is naturally not as nervous as Zhao Bao: "General Zhao, do you want to inform the Military Council?"
"Well, Mr. Qian, I will leave the Phoenix Village matter to Zhao. Please go to the Military Academy and tell Mr. Shi and Mr. Fan from the Ministry of War about the situation."
"Okay. Qian will go right now."
A quarter of an hour later, the team was assembled. Xiao Han, commander of the Seventh Army in the Second Wing of the Lin'an Military Region, said: "General Zhao, the Seventh Army has been assembled."
"Okay. Xiao Han. You will lead the thirty-sixth and thirty-seventh battalions of the Seventh Army to guard the north gate. No one is allowed to enter or leave until the general comes back. The thirty-eighth, thirty-ninth, and fortyth battalions are three. The soldiers will follow me to Fenghuang Village."
"Yes. General."
"All soldiers of the thirty-eight, thirty-nine and forty battalions. Mount their horses."
Following General Zhao Bao's order, 1,500 cavalry troops all mounted their horses and galloped north. The 38th, 39th, and 40th Battalions of the Seventh Army were the second battalions of the Lin'an Military Region. The only three-battalion cavalry unit in Xiang.
The horses were extremely fast. There was an official road outside the north gate and the road was smooth. It didn't take long for the soldiers to arrive at the entrance of Fenghuang Village.
Zhao Bao took the lead and rushed directly into the village without stopping at all.
At this time, the fire in the village had become much smaller. Some of the villagers were treating the injured and some were putting out the fire. However, the man in black mentioned by Zhou Guang was nowhere to be seen.
"Thirty-eight, thirty-nine battalion. Search everywhere. Forty battalion. Help the villagers put out the fire." After Zhao Bao gave the order, he sent someone to find Li Zheng in the village.
In Fenghuang Village, Zheng's surname is Zhou. Based on his seniority, he should be Zhou Guang's distant uncle. Zhou Lizheng introduced the process of the fire in detail, which was basically consistent with what Zhou Guang said. The men in black set fire everywhere and set the main buildings of the village on fire. Then he left Fenghuang Village, leaving only a military flag still planted in the center of the village.
When Zhao Bao saw this flag of the Xue Army, his first thought was, "Are the Mongols demonstrating?"
"Zhou Lizheng, are there many injured villagers?"
"Back to General. Not many. Basically, they were burnt by the fire. Those men in black didn't kill anyone after they set fire to the village."
The 38th and 39th Battalions quickly searched Fenghuang Village and its surroundings. They reported back: "General, there is no man in black. It seems that they have all evacuated. Do our troops want to expand the search area?"
Zhao Bao still looked at the flag left by Qie Xue's army. After a moment, he said: "Send more scouts and expand the search area. The Forty Battalion stayed in Fenghuang Village to assist the villagers in putting out the fire and settling the wounded. Thirty-eight, thirty The nine battalions, except for the scouts, must assemble immediately and return to Lin'an."
The flag is the military flag of the Mongolian Qixue. This is true. However, the Qixue army only set fire but did not kill anyone. This was beyond Zhao Bao's expectation. Besides, if Qixue came from thousands of miles away, it was impossible for him to do it just for the purpose. It's so simple to plant a flag.
"General Zhao is back. Open the city gate quickly." After receiving the news, Shi Yanzhi, acting director of the Military Academy, Fan Wenhuan, Minister of War, and General Zhang Gui, another guard of Lin'an City, rushed to the scene as soon as possible together with Qian Shuoyou. North Gate. And ordered the city gate to be opened.
After Zhao Bao finished talking about the situation in Fenghuang Village, Shi Yanzhi said: "General Zhao, General Zhang, Master Fan. It is impossible to determine the identity of these people in black from just one flag. It is dark today. The purpose of the people in black Unknown. Shi suggested to send an order to all city gates to take strict precautions. If there is any situation, report immediately. There is still an hour before dawn. A few of us separately inspected the major city gates. The first thing is to ensure the safety of Lin'an City. Others The matter will be reported to the Queen Mother at dawn before a final decision can be made. Generals, what do you think?"
Although Shi Yanzhi and Fan Wenhuan's military positions were far superior to Zhao Bao's, Shi Yanzhi could not give direct orders to the nine admirals of Lin'an appointed by the emperor. Instead, he expressed his views tactfully.
Fan Wenhuan also agreed: "What Mr. Shi said makes sense. No matter whether it is because Xue Jun is timid or not, it is impossible for a large number of Mongolian soldiers to cross the border of our country. Now, the war between Song and Mongolia has entered a critical period. Our top priority is This is to ensure that nothing goes wrong in Lin'an City. We will discuss the rest later."
Zhao Bao thought for a while and said: "The fire was too sudden. And the whereabouts of these men in black are currently unknown. Further north from Fenghuang Village is a large mountain forest, which is not conducive to searching in the dark. Since the two adults We all agree. The general also agrees."
Shi Yanzhi said "hmm" and said, "Please give the order, General Zhao."
"Since the man in black appeared at the north gate, Zhao will patrol around the north gate. Mr. Shi, you go to the east gate. Mr. Fan, you go to the west gate. General Zhang, you go to the south gate. An hour later, at the palace gate. Foreign exchange."