end song

Chapter 667

In the big tent, after asking for a while, a woman's cry sounded.

"Back to the general, it's Yongning Zhang."

"Luoyang?"

"Yes, my family... the family has fallen, and I went to Chang'an with my family to join my uncle."

Li Xia looked at it with a card talisman in his hand, and asked again: "Why do you bring the card talisman of Shuntian Zhang?"

"The chariots and horses arrived near the Zhudingyuan. The slave's family was greedy for the scenery. Looking out through the curtain, there were Mongolian villains who came to rob the slave's house and disturbed the chariots and horses... Woo... many people died... The slave's carriage was led away for several times. In the middle of the day, I happened to meet a young gentleman who rode his horse and led more than twenty servants. He was so majestic and brave that he saved the servant's family."

"Speak carefully, what kind of person is he?"

"He... is beautiful, gentle and jade-like, with a crown on his head, shoulders and lapels, and a long sword at his waist... Well, Fengshen is handsome. He heard that the slave's family is still behind, so he He took someone to rescue me and sent two guards to take me through Tongguan first. In addition, he was accompanied by a female Taoist priest who was in her thirties."

"Then?"

"When we arrived at Tongguan, the guards showed the talisman to pass the customs, and the slave family was placed in Huazhou. After waiting for a few days, a lady came to see her and said that the slave family had seen her when she was young. After chatting for a long time, the slave family was a little strange and asked her Is it wrong to deny the wrong person, she should not, just take Nujia to Lianping Temple. Nujia thought, there is a female Taoist priest next to that little man, and there is also a female Taoist priest in Lianping Temple, maybe it was arranged by him, Then I stayed at ease..."

"When did you arrive in Tongguan?"

"It should be the first day of July."

Li Xia asked carefully for a while, and ordered someone to send the woman to Chang'an to join her relatives.

Lin Zi stepped forward and asked, "Commander, from this point of view, Lian Xixian and Shang Ting have admitted the wrong person?"

"The people working on the ground can admit their mistakes, but they won't admit their mistakes. I'm afraid they have already reacted when they received Zhang Hongdao's letter." Li Xia said: "It happened that we defeated Liu Heima in Weishui, and Lian Xixian made a mistake and took advantage of this matter."

He took out the broken letter and tried to complete it again, and he had a new idea.

"Sure enough, Zhang Hongdao is not asking Shang Ting to ask for someone, but is warning Shang Ting not to touch the Zhang family."

"No wonder Lian Xixian burned half of it."

Li Xia said: "There are enough clues. After taking Tongguan, we will use our own spies to investigate, and we don't need to be dragged away by Lian Xixian."

"Yes."

"Go and interrogate the prisoners to determine whether Lian Xixian is dead, and then send his body to Tongguan..."

~~
Tongguan.

"Bao Chen actually came in person."

Shang Ting was looking at Zhao Bi in front of him, and let out a long sigh.

Zhao Bi's expression was also extremely heavy, and he said, "Jingzhao fell, and the mountains and rivers trembled, how could I not come?"

Zhao Bi has been promoted to an official position, and in addition to Henan Economic and Strategic Envoy, he has also added the official title of "in charge of the financial administration of the Han area".

Because if the current situation in the Central Plains can be summed up in four words, it would be "the mansion is empty." Kublai Khan was going to march north, and he lacked a lot of money and food. He appointed Zhao Bi, Youyou, and Dong Wenbing to lead the Central Plains Qiangu.

It went smoothly in the beginning, Zhao Bi handed over the books and books, and got tens of thousands of money from the rich and nobles, so that the people in the Central Plains would not be disturbed, but the army would have enough money.

I don't want to, at this juncture, news from the west keeps coming, [-] troops were killed, and Longxi was lost... Zhao Bi could only say a few words, and when he was caught off guard, he heard that Jingzhao Mansion was lost.

He was so shocked that he was struck by lightning, but he couldn't believe it. Pegasus went from Kaifeng to Tongguan.

When you see the flag of the Song army flying outside the Guancheng, you can only believe it if you don't believe it.

"How did it get to this point?!"

If it is said that Zhao Bi could still maintain the palace in front of people as soon as they met, but at this moment they were chatting with Shang Ting secretly, and their tone could no longer be controlled.

Shang Ting didn't know what to say.

Everything happened too fast. First, he dealt with the army in all directions in Hunduhai, and he was also busy with the business of offering gifts to support the Northern Expedition. Lian Xixian was in charge of the situation in Longxi.

In a blink of an eye, there was only general news that Liu Heima had rebelled, and Lian Xixian had withdrawn from Jingzhao Mansion as the main force.

At this time, he was unwilling to shirk his guilt, so Shang Ting had no choice but to pick up what he knew, and finally said: "I am incompetent, I lost Guan Long, and I am willing to bear it with all my strength..."

"Can you afford it?!"

Zhao Bi leaned over and said in a bitter tone, "Brother Meng Qing, I'm not asking for guilt, and I have no right to ask for guilt, but neither you nor Shanfu can afford it!"

"I understand, I understand." Shang Ting also looked even more bitter, bitterness soaked his heart, trembling his hands, murmured: "In Baochen's opinion, what else can we do?"

"Where is Shanfu? He has to explain something. He has already explained it to me, or he can plead with His Majesty for him."

Zhao Bi couldn't sit still, got up and took a few steps, said: "How does the situation look like to me?! Shanfu stopped teaching and executed, recruited all the troops, and took Wang Liangchen as his commander. No one in the capital wanted to judge him for his crimes." ?! It is His Majesty who trusts him and entrusts him with the authority in all aspects. It should be done as appropriate, and you should not stick to the usual rules and miss the opportunity. However, the decree was made and Guan Long was lost. How do you let the people of the world think of Your Majesty?!"

"We... understand, so Shanfu is willing to take back Guan Long, and is willing to do his best to restore..."

"Recover it? How else can it be recovered?!" Zhao Bi raised his hand and pointed, and shouted, "This Tongguan will be lost soon! You want me to fully transfer the Henan garrison, regardless of Li Fen and Song Ting?!"

"He can only kill Li Xia."

"I have tried to praise paintings all my life, and now I am showing off the courage of ordinary people?"

"What else? Instead of adding more crimes to crimes, why not fight desperately, if you don't succeed, you will be benevolent..."

Zhao Bi shook his head, silently.

He understands that Lian Xixian no longer intends to come back alive, and if he "does it right" over and over again, too many people will be implicated if he comes back alive.

"Tongguan can't be held for too long. If Shanfu is unsuccessful, he can only retreat temporarily." Zhao Bi murmured: "I will do my best to save the lives of Brother Meng Qing and his family."

There is nothing to say about these things.Both of them were very worried, and had a premonition that Lian Xixian might have become benevolent.

Zhao Bi turned around and went out, but saw soldiers coming forward.

"Song Jun sent a letter to Shanggong..."

Shang Ting's face in the room darkened, feeling Zhao Bi's gaze, he raised his hand and said, "Please take a look at it, Baochen."

"Brother Meng Qing, don't worry, I won't fall for this divisive scheme."

~~
Half an hour later, Hu Zhiyu was brought in front of Zhao Bi.

He was released before the Song army attacked Tongguan, because Shang Ting was worried that he had been betrayed, so he didn't dare to reuse him, so he was watched by others, saying that he was resting.

Facing Zhao Bi's scrutiny at this time, Hu Zhizhen was still frank, and talked about the things in Chang'an City one by one.

"In other words, you failed to assassinate Li Xia."

Hu Zhiyu's tone was also bitter, and he replied: "I'm just trying to test it out. Prime Minister Lian said that if I fail, he will do it himself."

"What about the girl from the Zhang family?"

"I don't know very well. The letter that Prime Minister Lian gave us was torn up. It is impossible for Li Xia to get the result from my interrogation. It must be one of the ways that Prime Minister Lian messed up Li Xia's mind."

Zhao Bi nodded. He had already asked Shang Ting about this matter, so he didn't ask any further questions, and asked, "Tell me about everything that happened when Li Xia interrogated you."

"Is it possible that the economic envoy is suspicious of Lianxiang, Lianxiang's loyalty..."

"I don't doubt anyone, I just let you say."

a long time.

"Li Xia said that His Majesty sent someone to contact him to kill the late emperor?"

"This... indeed said."

"How's the voice?"

"It's like saying it casually."

Zhao Bi narrowed his eyes slightly.

If it was said that someone in the Jinlianchuan shogunate betrayed His Majesty and descended to Li Xia, he would not believe it.

However, there are still some doubts about the Diaoyu City matter.

Zhao Bi always remembered the scene of the Jinlianchuan shogunate's discussion after Meng Ge's personal conquest.

then,

"The road to Shu is dangerous and far away, how can Wan Cheng move lightly?"

When Shang Ting said this, Brother Meng had already arrived in Sichuan.

I still remember that after these words, His Majesty was silent for a long time...

"Shang Ting? After discussing that night, I still think that 'the road to Shu is far away', so...Yang Guo defected..."

~~
August twelfth.

Li Xia has marched to the west of Tongguan.

First he ordered his soldiers to send Lian Xixian's charred body and the flag amulet into Tongguan, and then Li Xia asked Liu Yuanli, "Did the letter go in?"

"I have delivered it, and I will send it when I see that the enemy has reinforcements coming."

"I was busy recently, so I didn't bother to use tricks like alienation." Li Xia said: "But since Lian Xixian made a move, it's not a gentleman to come and not go."

"The marshal is really well-planned." Liu Yuanli praised, pointed to the corpse in front of him, and said with emotion: "To send another corpse today, there are so many gifts."

"After years of fighting, both sides have exhausted their strength. If they try harder, they will no longer stick to it."

"Tongguan has been difficult to defend to the west since ancient times. The enemy's fighting spirit is not firm, and they are still holding on. I am afraid that they are waiting for Lian Xixian's surprise soldiers. Once the commander arrives today, he will withdraw soon..."

As Liu Yuanli said, in the next two days, the Twelve Liancheng was captured by the Song army one after another.

After the Mid-Autumn Festival, the Mongolian army took the initiative to withdraw without waiting for the Song army to detour to the east of Tongguan.

On August [-]th, Li Xia entered Tongguan to sit in the town in person, and sent Liu Yuanli to pursue eastward, attacking Jindou Pass, Hangu Pass and other pass cities.

So far, it has been very difficult for the Mongolian army to counterattack.

The first thing Li Xia has to do is to arrange the defense on all sides of Guanzhong.

For example, the strategic significance of Yangping Pass, Dasan Pass, Ziwu Pass and other places has been reduced, and the guards and garrisons in various places will be redeployed.

On the same day, a letter of transfer order was sent by Kuaima to various places...

It wasn't until nightfall that Lin Zi came to report, and Li Xia raised his head from the desk.

"Checked it out?"

"Our spies questioned many people, and many people saw them crossing the Yellow River and heading north."

"That's the boundary of Shanxi, right? Arrange some experts to check it out."

"Yes." Lin Zi agreed, and seeing that Li Xia hadn't moved the dinner on the case, he persuaded: "The commander should take a rest once in a while."

"It's okay, it'll be fine soon."

Li Xia also listened to the persuasion, put down the pen, picked up the chopsticks, and breathed a sigh of relief.

"At present, there are still few talents that need to be used. When you first enter the customs, chaos is inevitable, but getting rid of Lian Xixian can alleviate a lot, and the remaining small fish and shrimps will gradually make no big waves."

Lin Zi also sighed: "I was also uneasy a while ago, and I didn't even have time to catch my breath when I regained Chang'an. Up to now, the meticulous work in Chang'an City has not been cleaned up."

"Then it will be easy. In terms of military affairs, we have deployed defenses. In terms of civil affairs, we can only wait for the implementation of various government affairs and the people's hearts gradually stabilize. This is the truth."

"Yes, when you find a girl from the Zhang family for the commander-in-chief, the commander-in-chief's last concern will be settled."

"Thank you very much." Li Xia smiled casually.

Although he didn't know where Zhang Wenjing went to play, but since he found out that she was not caught, he felt relieved...

~~
For the next three days, Li Xia still deployed defenses in Tongguan, but Lin Zi's investigation was quite rewarding.

"Marshal, I found out. Someone in the north of the Yellow River has been with them and their group. Did the Marshal ask him personally?"

"Bring it back?"

"Yes, a few scholars from Jiufeng Academy, we thought that the general lacked scholars, so we directly tied them back."

Li Xia glanced at Lin Zi, nodded and said, "Alright, bring it here."

After a while, several young scholars were brought over.

Lin Zi was still polite, pointed at one of them, and said, "Tell us about the things you asked again."

Li Xia glanced over and saw that this was a tall scholar, in his twenties, without a beard yet, with broad eyebrows and wide eyes, but with an elegant and quiet demeanor.

"Student Yuan Congzheng, Zi Heyi, met this handsome man."

Li Xia asked: "Your surname is 'Yuan', are you related to Mr. Yishan?"

"My grandfather and Mr. Yishan are cousins, students should call him uncle."

"No wonder." Li Xia said, "Then we may still have some relatives."

Yuan Congzheng was slightly taken aback, as if he didn't know what Li Xia meant by "no wonder", and also as if he didn't know what it meant to have some relatives.

Li Xia only exchanged greetings and asked, "Tell me what I want to know first. Did you meet a group of people in July? Among them was a handsome gentleman and a female Taoist priest..."

(End of this chapter)