Although Zhao Fang looked down on the other cronies in Shi Miyuan's curtain, he respected Xuan Zhen. He shouted twice, got off his horse first, hurried forward to greet him, and waved his hands repeatedly to signal the knights around him not to intercept.
.
Zhao Fang was about the same age as Xuan Zhen, but he became an official very early. When he was the magistrate of Qingyang County in Chizhou, his immediate boss was the magistrate Shi Miyuan, and most of Shi Miyuan's white-bodied friends were fellow townsmen of Qingyuan Prefecture.
Among them is Xuan Zhen.
Therefore, the two are old acquaintances.
At that time, Zhao Fang and Shi Miyuan were not happy because of the rent-driving punishment in the state. Xuan Zhen came to mediate and said a lot of good things to both parties, so that there was no embarrassment.
Later, Zhao Fang worked in various local positions. It took him twenty-five years to compile the secret pavilion, know Jiangling, be in charge of Hubei's appeasement department, and have the power to set up Jinghu. After Shi Miyuan returned to the court, Xuanzhen
, first he held an examination for a doctorate in etherology, and became the secretary of the Provincial School Secretary, and then transferred to several central positions one after another. Now, both the power in his hands and his future prospects must be superior to Zhao Fang.
At this time, Xuan Zhen galloped his horse and rushed straight in front of Zhao Fang before jumping off the horse.
This gesture was a bit rude, but Xuan Zhen ignored the resentful expressions of the knights around him and asked directly: "Yanzhi, have you obtained the secret order from the Prime Minister?"
"The Prime Minister has various instructions. I wonder which one you know."
Xuan Zhen laughed: "I haven't seen Yan Zhi in ten years, and he still has such a stone temper. Come on, look at this."
He pulled out a slender piece of paper from the inside of his belt and handed it to Zhao Fang: "This is Mr. Shi's handwriting! Just take a look at it...just follow it!"
Zhao Fang took the note and read it. It was indeed Shi Xianggong's calligraphy, and it was issued by Xuan Zhen. It undoubtedly represented the meaning of the central government. However, Zhao Fang read it for a long time and was speechless.
The eldest son Zhao Fang, who was behind him, saw the veins on his old father's neck and forehead bursting out, and quickly came up to support him.
"How could this happen?" Zhao Fang finally took a breath and asked in disbelief.
"Yanzhi, when I first learned about it, I was just as surprised, but...that's it."
Xuan Zhen laughed: "Actually, Yanzhi, you have been waiting for this news. Otherwise, you wouldn't have gone out of your way to respond in person, right?"
"I did get a secret order to help my subordinates escape, but..." Zhao Fang's hand holding the note trembled: "But I never thought you would carry such an order with you? Isn't this ridiculous? This, this
...Why should this be relied upon? How can the movements of those Jurchens be determined by Shi Xianggong with just a piece of paper?"
"Why is this unwarranted? We will know as soon as we send out troops." Xuan Zhen stepped forward half a step, holding Zhao Fang's arm: "I just want to see you, Yan Zhi, if you are willing to go through the hard work, and if you dare to give it a try
.”
Zhao Fangyou was stunned, opened his mouth, and couldn't help but curse: "How dare I do this alone? If anything goes wrong, the lives of 20,000 soldiers will be at stake!"
Xuan Zhen took another half step forward. He held Zhao Fang's arm with his palms with full force, like an iron pincer: "Silence!"
Zhao Fang suddenly shut up.
Xuan Zhen lowered his voice: "This is not only about the lives of 20,000 soldiers? It is also about the future of Mr. Shi... Even if you don't care, it is also about the future of the Song Dynasty! If it is done, think about how big the Song Dynasty can be.
The benefits! Maybe, we can..."
"Shut up!" It was Zhao Fang's turn to shout.
The two old men stared at each other and gasped for breath. After a while, neither of them continued to speak.
On the contrary, the shouts of killing from the front suddenly became fierce. The Meng Cong rode back and shouted: "Mr. Zhizhi, let's step back! We are too close to the battlefield!"
It was indeed too close, and at this moment there was already a stream of water flying not far away.
At this time, the battle between Ding Haijun and Jin Jun became increasingly fierce.
Many soldiers subconsciously raised their heads and saw that the sun was blocked by arrows. Countless arrows flew over people's heads like locusts. Wherever the arrows fell, dozens or hundreds of people were hit by arrows in an instant. Although some
The soldiers raised their shields to cover, but some people still screamed and fell to the ground. In the next moment, another group of locusts changed directions and leaped over people's heads again, and so on.
A little further away from the military formation, the Jurchens trying to break through the car formation from two directions were like the arms of a giant, only shadowing in front of the Ding navy officers. The roar of filial piety from tens of thousands of people was like the roar of the waves, and their
The formation was like waves, hitting the Dinghai navy's defensive formation again and again.
The Jurchen generals from low to high kept urging the soldiers to move forward. Some Jurchen officers with fine armor and stomach were agile and were the first to meet the enemy. The soldiers from both sides took a deep breath, charged together, and pushed each other.
, slashing and stabbing each other at a very close distance. When the breath subsided, people also moved away, as if the tide had finished beating.
After each slap, a large amount of blood mist would be visible to the naked eye at the intersection of the two military formations, and tiny blood droplets flying from countless wounds would fly into the air.
The blood mist and smoke gathered together in one place, were slightly blown up by the wind, and then slowly fell down. The blood dried in the sun, so the falling dust was all black, which was different from the yellowish brown or grayish white of ordinary dust.
It's more like the burnt dust in the air after a fire somewhere.
Guo Ning immediately rushed to the center of the army. When he saw the black dust falling on his robe, he reached out and brushed it away.
Contrary to the imagination of outsiders, commanding on the battlefield with tens of thousands of people running back and forth is no more complicated than commanding a scale of tens of thousands of people. Guo Ning only needs to pay close attention to the changes in the situation, and use the eyes overlooking the hot air balloon to make timely decisions.
Make troop arrangements. As for direct command on the battlefield, he trusted his experienced subordinates.
Therefore, now he feels that he is more like a mascot. It is enough to maintain a calm appearance and show the style of a coach.
He saw his subordinates continue to bleed and die, and saw more subordinates succeed because of the bright future he promised. In fact, he could not be completely indifferent, but at this time, he only needed to command steadily and persist until victory.
The Jurchens are just holding on for their last breath, and at a certain point in time, Ding Haijun will exert his strength. Once he exerts his strength, he will win, and he will win completely and once and for all.
Many of the guards around Guo Ning clenched their fists and shouted in low voices to encourage the soldiers in front. Some people did not make any loud noise, but their voices were hoarse and they were so excited that they shed tears.
The guards are all warriors who have experienced hundreds of battles. They know that countless lives can be lost in an instant on the battlefield, and dead people are nothing to them. What excites him is that the countless battles before were fought for the Kingdom of Jin, but today
After this battle, there will no longer be Dajin, and the emperor in Zhongdu will be nothing. Everyone will usher in a new dynasty and a new future.
Compared with the excitement of the soldiers, the faces of the staff further back were a little serious.
Everyone who had followed the army here had been very relaxed. After all, the Kaifeng court had fallen into the trap and could not muster the strength to fight again. After our side broke through the border defenders, most of the enemies entangled by the Southern Dynasty would collapse, and then they would clear out and flee.
It's the enemy's business.
Even if the enemy army turns back, it will never be a match for our own thunderous blow. With Zhou Guogong personally leading the troops here, he will be able to quickly eliminate them, take advantage of the victory, and make a forced landing or capture Kaifeng.
Some staff members are already rushing to organize troops to enter Tongguan to avoid being taken advantage of by party members.
However, what surprised everyone was that the broken army of the Jurchens who turned back in an emergency actually fought a fierce battle in front of Lincai Pass, and it did not collapse as quickly as everyone imagined.
Some people lamented: "This group of Jurchens had already been so ruthless, so how could they be swept away by the Mongols?"
Some people couldn't help but shook their heads: "Such an army fought against the Song people in Huainan, Jinghu and other places. I heard that they didn't take advantage of it and even lost a lot of money and fled. So, how powerful must the Song people be?"
"
Some people also explained: "That's different. What they fought before was several times the number of troops stacked up on the border of the Song Dynasty. The Song army who dared to pursue the territory only had 20,000 people on the side of Zhuxian Town. The rest of the troops
, I’ve already lost my nerve!”
At this moment, Yelu Chucai hurriedly arrived.
Guo Ning turned his horse around and said, "Qing Jin, didn't I ask you to go to Guide Mansion first? Why are you doing this in a dangerous place?"
Yelu Chucai had sweat on his forehead and panted as he said: "To inform the Duke, I had to turn back before I reached the halfway point. It's all because something strange happened at Qi County's base camp."
"What's up?"
"Xuan Zhen ran away."
"Run away? You mean, left without saying goodbye?"
"Yes. He took twelve of his own retinues, and left ten to provide cover. Two followed him and sneaked away. I arranged five Alixi for him to take care of his daily life, and also did surveillance on him...
I also hid it from those Alixi people, even..."
"What's wrong?"
"Ahem, I just checked. Since Xuanzhen is moving with the army, he has a lot of contacts with military staff and generals. Therefore, he may have stolen a gold medal. In addition, he also asked about the password for our march today. Along the way
There is no obstacle."
"Ha ha……"
Yelu Chucai hesitated for a moment, and then said: "My lord, Xuan Zhen may have been bribed with a large sum of money, or there may be other special means. However, the gold medal and the password are so important, and our people actually..."
"It was arranged by Lao Xu."
"What?"
Guo Ning said slowly: "The gold medal and password that Xuan Zhen received were specially arranged by the staff of the Recording Department. I knew it in advance."
Yelu Chucai looked at Guo Ning in astonishment. After a while, he took a deep breath: "...I see."
Guo Ning asked casually: "He chose this moment to leave without saying goodbye. He has to give us some explanation, right?"
"I left a letter in the tent, but the words were sincere."
To be continued...