Infinite Brilliant Scroll

Chapter 234
A group of people who came to the frontier army to announce the decree was led by an eunuch and accompanied by civil servants. After receiving the decree, Han Shizhong sent someone to send them to rest.

A moment later, the accompanying young official came to the account again to ask for an audience.

"My subordinate Zhao Ding."

After saluting to Han Shizhong, the young man who looked gentle, refined and polite said in a low voice, "Li Shuxiang specially stuffed his subordinates into the decree team to remind Han Shuai that Chen Daozi not only wanted to be transferred from the frontier army Take twelve strong generals, and even have the idea of ​​food and grass for the frontier army."

"Prime Minister Li Shu fought for it in the court, fearing that he would not be able to persuade the officials, but the officials have always relied heavily on Han Shuai, and hoped that Han Shuai could send a memorial to Bianliang to persuade the officials."

Han Shizhong sat upright behind the table, with short black beard, bushy eyebrows, solemn face, and a dignified demeanor, and said: "It is hard to violate the holy will. If the officials have already made up their minds, some of my trivial words , and where will it play any role?"

Zhao Ding didn't expect Han Shizhong to answer like this, he was taken aback for a while, and said: "Han Shuai..."

"Those people mentioned in the imperial decree have always liked to move rather than stay still. When the weather is fine, they often go to the river to play with bows and arrows. I am about to send someone to call them back."

Han Shizhong said, "Since you are here, please go with my soldiers in front of the tent and call them back."

Zhao Ding couldn't say anything more, so he took orders.

Several personal soldiers brought the horse and asked him to mount it. They took care of him as a civil servant. He walked out of the tent and went downstream along the border of the boundary river.

In recent decades, the Liao Kingdom has experienced frequent internal strife. First, the emperor's great-uncle Yelu Chongyuan rebelled, and was put down by Yelu Yixin, the king of the Liao Kingdom's Southern Academy.

Also, Yelu Yixin has been in power for more than ten years, his hands and eyes are in the sky, power is pouring into the government and the public, the party is united in fighting dissidents, and he wantonly purged those who disagreed with his political views in the court.

Now the emperor of the Liao Kingdom finally managed to kill Yelu Yixin. A few years ago, there was a rebellion by Yeluzhangnu.

The people are also very uneasy, and many people see the opportunity and rise up.

However, a few years ago, after Jurchen Wanyan Aguda's lineage was wiped out, a young man named Zong Han escaped to Shangjing in the Liao Kingdom by chance, and presented the ancient secret method of magic that he obtained from the Tianchi Lake.

That secret method is dedicated to prospecting for mineral veins. Although there are many incompletes, and the degree of precision of exploration is not as good as the method in the hands of the Song court, it is still worthy of use.

At that time, Xixia was destroyed, and the Liao court finally felt the urgency. They invited eminent monks and mages who had been supporting them for many years to personally assist them in digging mine veins.

Excavate the tomb of Yelu Yixin, the great king of the Southern Academy, and dig out Yelu Yixin's magical powers of magic. Jiehe confronted the Song army.

The strongholds on both sides of the river have been built intermittently, destroyed and repaired, repaired and destroyed. There are not only remnants of the war, but also a fortified stronghold that is almost like a city.

Zhao Ding looked at the opposite bank from his horse, and could vaguely see camps stretching for tens of miles, banners and flags unfurled, swords and guns glowing coldly under the sun, people and horses coming and going in an endless stream.

"Coming."

Several personal soldiers approached, each pulled out an iron umbrella from behind, and opened the umbrella surface. It was as big as a mat, and it was made up of jet-black iron bars. There was a red spell engraved on the surface of each iron bar. .

Several large umbrellas shaded the sun, and the edges of the umbrellas overlapped, covering Zhao Ding firmly in the shadow.

Zhao Ding was a little puzzled, and said, "What is this for?"

The soldier explained: "The nobleman doesn't know something, the army is boring, and the daily drills are meaningless to those generals and warriors, so they often go to the river to shoot and play."

"Shoot?!"

Before Zhao Ding could figure it out, he heard a loud bang not far ahead.

A golden light landed on the ground, blasting a small crater on the shore.

Although the arrow had completely submerged under the soil on the shore, with Zhao Ding's eyesight, he still vaguely caught the arrow's tail feather.

That was the arrow of the Liao army, coming from the opposite bank.

The boundary river between Song and Liao was not considered to be a particularly wide river, but since the founding of the two countries, there have been fewer times of peace and more times of war. open up.

The mages of the two armies often practiced methods to move the wind and waves, which affected the climate, and the water flow invaded day by day. After more than a hundred years, this boundary river has been widened like a big river.

The section in front is relatively the narrowest part of the water surface, and the distance between the two banks is only three or four miles.

Those who are good at archery can draw a bow and set an arrow there, enough to shoot across the river.

Arrows collided constantly on the surface of the water, burst and broke, and fell into the water. Only a few arrows could reach the shore, and even fewer could kill the enemy soldiers.

Zhao Ding looked at the crowd, among the dozens of people on the other side, there were a few that stood out, Guan Sheng, Hu Yanzhuo, Dong Ping, Xu Ning and others were immediately recognizable.

There was a young general of the Song Army standing among the group of sharpshooters, looking at his facial features immature, as if he had not yet reached the age of a weak crown, he was holding a big bow that was as tall as others. On the other side, one person can fall down.

The surrounding Song Army archers cheered repeatedly.

The people on the other side seemed to be enraged, suddenly a tall figure jumped down from the camp, came to the bank, bowed his bow and set up an arrow, and from the rain of arrows intersecting in the sky, the shadow of a golden arrow like a python swam across.

The young general fired three arrows in a row and hit the menacing flying python, but they couldn't stop the force, and all three arrows were shattered.

The boa constrictor flew to the shore, and the young general jumped more than ten feet high, and smashed his back on the boa constrictor's head.

The python finally collapsed, and the golden arrow fell to the ground.

"It's the Mahuraka Arrow, one of the eight sacred arrows of the Liao Kingdom. This kind of arrow feathers are precious, and only the generals of the Liao Kingdom can use them."

Guan Sheng was slightly annoyed, his face reddened even more, he took out his bow and arrow and shot towards the opposite bank, saying, "What a Liao general, you really have no shame in bullying a young horse archer in our army."

Hu Yanzhuo and others surrounded him, caring about the young general.

"I'm fine." The young general said, "Unfortunately, it's rare to find a suitable big bow, and the bowstring was broken."

Hu Yanzhuo smiled and said: "Pengju, although your bow is big, it is not really a good bow. I have the fixed sun bow left by the ancestor of the Huyan family here. Come and try it."

Yue Pengju was overjoyed, thanked him repeatedly, and took the precious bow. Although this bow was only about four feet high, far inferior to the big bow just now, it was even heavier. After he got it, he couldn't draw it fully. Shake the iron pillar.

Another flying boa constrictor attacked from the opposite bank, with a slender figure, Yue Peng raised an arrow and shot at it, the boa constrictor's phantom, as if struck by lightning, suddenly dimmed and lost control, and fell into the river.

But this bow was too hard after all, and Yue Pengju felt it was unsustainable after shooting less than ten arrows.

Hu Yanzhuo laughed loudly: "You are only eighteen, and you have such abilities. It's amazing. It seems that this bow has been covered in dust for many years, and finally met the Ming Lord."

Yue Pengju said: "How dare I..."

"Don't refuse!"

The gift of the bow from the veteran was a good talk, and Guan Sheng and the others were also happy to facilitate it. After talking for a few words, they felt that they had enjoyed their day.

Zhao Ding only woke up at this time, sitting on his horse, he seemed to have been watching for more than a quarter of an hour, the frontier generals fighting with arrows are so admirable, he forgot the time for a while.

"In today's world, in the territory of the Great Song Dynasty, the only ones who can be regarded as doing serious business are the frontier soldiers."

This thought flashed in Zhao Ding's mind inexplicably, he went forward to meet him, got off his horse and greeted several generals.

Guan Sheng heard that Zhao Ding came to the barracks with the imperial decree, his eyes lit up immediately, and he said happily: "Has the official made a decree to start war against the Liao Kingdom? We can finally fulfill our long-cherished wish to regain our homeland."

Zhao Ding sighed secretly, shook his head and said: "The general misunderstood."

After all the generals figured out what was going on, they all had different expressions, and all of them were somewhat dispirited. They went back to the barracks silently all the way, and met Han Shizhong.

The eunuch who announced the decree has also been called to the big tent again.

"You should have heard about the imperial decree."

Han Shizhong has always been dignified and serious. Although the soldiers of the frontier army loved him, they also feared him. When he came to the account, everything was silent, except for his voice.

"Guan Sheng, Hu Yanzhuo, Luan Tingyu, Xu Ning, Sun Li, Dong Ping...you all have to go to Bianliang first, and then set off with the whole army. It's a pity that you are aggressive and enjoy fighting arrows on weekdays. Injured."

Guan Sheng and the others paused.

"The last general and others are so brave and ruthless, it's absolutely wrong, but if you go to Bianliang with injuries, I'm afraid you'll miss a big deal before the battle. Our injuries..."

Hu Yanzhuo looked at Han Shizhong with a questioning look in his eyes, "The military doctor said, do we need to recuperate from this injury?"

Han Shizhong said: "If you want to regain your courage and make contributions in the Battle of Liangshan, you need to rest for a year at least."

The eunuch Xuanzhi's face changed drastically, and when he was about to have an attack, he was faintly timid, so he had no choice but to persuade him.

Zhao Ding was thoughtful, but he still couldn't laugh or cry when he heard a year's words, and said: "Han Shuai, a year is too long, I'm afraid it will be hard to explain when we go back."

Han Shizhong didn't change his face, his majesty made people's liver tremble, he thought over and over again, and said in embarrassment: "For the sake of the court's affairs, even if they have some hidden injuries, I don't care about them, so let's take a rest for a month, how about it?" ?”

The Xuanzhi eunuch immediately breathed a sigh of relief, fearing that Han Shizhong would go back on his word, he hurriedly nodded in response, expressing that he would truthfully report back to Bianliang.

He was not a fool either, secretly looking at those generals, he felt that they were listless when they came back, and when they went out, each of them looked bleak, with pale lips and haggard looks.

"The gang of stabbed Qiu Ba, they really deserve to die, they still want to run around after being injured like this."

The eunuch cursed a few words in his heart, but he didn't think it was strange, the soldiers and generals fought bravely, and the incidents of beating bloody blood often happened in Bianliang. It's not worth being surprised.

After everyone left, Han Shizhong left Zhao Ding behind and said, "A month's time, is the prime minister enough?"

Zhao Ding was convinced, and said: "Han Shuai has strategized, and the officials admire him."

"Hey, it's just a matter of dedicating yourself to the court, you should step back."

Han Shizhong unfolded the imperial decree and looked at it again, his face was full of calm, his eyes did not fluctuate in the slightest, then he got up and went back to the Han mansion, and went straight into the backyard.

In the courtyard, his wife Liang Hongyu, dressed in light purple, was sitting beside the stone table, carefully wiping the sword. On the table were wine jugs, wine glasses, and small plates of pastries.

Han Shizhong retreated from the left and right, sat across the stone table, sipped half a glass of water and wine, and said casually: "Just now, there was a decree from Bianliang, saying that a large group of grass bandits gathered in Liangshan, Jeju, and the imperial court sent troops twice to harm the nearby state capitals." The conquest was defeated, Liu Guang's family, the prefect of Quancheng, was killed, Yun Tianbiao and Liu Yongxi were all buried there, and they wanted to transfer generals from me to launch another crusade."

Liang Hongyu turned her head and said in surprise: "Yun Tianbiao is extraordinary in martial arts, although Liu Yongxi is just a make-up, but he has already become one of the four Dao officials, and the imperial court personally appointed Doctor Taixu, who can kill them both?"

"It's not mentioned in the edict, but I know it."

Holding his wine glass, Han Shizhong told the names of Liangshan's current leaders.

His tone was loose, his expression was lazy, and his sitting posture was not right. He didn't have the appearance of a solemn and respected general who was most respected by the lieutenant generals.

But Liang Hongyu was used to seeing him like this for a long time, she just wondered: "How do you know so much about Liangshan?"

"Li Jun was originally in command of the navy under my command. I let him go back to heal his wounds and visit his relatives. Within a few months, the state government reported that he was a wanted criminal, and he was vague. How could I not investigate?"

Han Shizhong poured another glass of wine, "This investigation is really shocking. The so-called bandits in Liangshan are basically the people and refugees under the state capitals on Jingdong East Road."

Liang Hongyu put the sword back into its sheath with a groan: "Then you must have another idea."

"How can Liangshan compete with the court for a long time? But Chen Xizhen is gnashing his teeth at Liangshan, who is hated by the court. I can't speak for Liangshan in front of the officials."

Han Shizhong raised his eyebrows, "Unless Chen Xizhen is dead. At that time, I will use some means to let Li Gang know Liangshan's hidden situation, and propose to the emperor to recruit Liangshan, maybe it is feasible."

Liang Hongyu pondered and said: "Chen Xizhen is a fierce and decisive person with a strong way of Taoism. It is very difficult for him to die. Besides, he is a close official of the official family. Wouldn't it make the official family even more angry if he died in Liangshan?"

Han Shizhong said: "The emperor favored Taoist priests, but killed many people in Longhushan, Hengshan, Ningling, Erxianshan and other places. He manipulated Liu Hunkang's disciples and forced him to stay in Bianliang. The emperor relied heavily on generals, but after breaking Xia He also turned a blind eye to those who were unwilling to live with each other and were scattered all over the country and suffered from exclusion and oppression."

"It looks like a man of gentleness and martial arts, with a discerning eye to know people, and has great ambitions to achieve great things, but in fact..."

Han Shizhong drank the glass of wine.

At that time, he also thought that the Emperor of Destiny was a rare and wise emperor through the ages, and heaven and man were reincarnated, but later he understood.

The emperor needs people who don't rebel, but he doesn't care much about what these people are like. He needs civil servants to take care of the government, and military generals to conquer the four directions, but he doesn't necessarily care about these civil and military ministers.

Liu Guang and the others thought they were in power, but they didn't know that their lives might not be worthy of the present emperor's memory.

"As long as Chen Xizhen is dead, it doesn't matter at all."

Han Shizhong finally said, "However he will die is indeed very difficult. I hope Liang Shan can get ready for this extra month."

Liang Hongyu touched the hilt of the sword, groaning silently.

Bianliang civil and military officials, generals of the frontier army, and officials of the state capitals on Jingdong East Road are all waiting and paying attention to Liangshan.

However, there was new news soon, beyond everyone's expectations, like a shocking thunder across the sky, illuminating their faces one by one.

There are a lot of new news, and the earliest one appeared in Daming Mansion.

That day, in a beautiful small courtyard in Daming Mansion, a naturally beautiful woman, especially Haitang Chunsui, was pinching a piece of letter paper.

"Liangshan..."

She paused, remained silent for a long time, and then smiled softly, "Liang Shan, sure enough, many people want to do this kind of thing, and some people have already succeeded."

A woman named Qiongying rolled up the letter paper, and soon a servant girl came to report it.

"Miss, Master and Little Brother B are here."

"Is the wine ready?"

"They are all first-class wines. It is said that there is a jar among them, which was still in the collection of Erxian Mountain in the past."

"Okay, this kind of wine can make foster father drunk."

Qiongying got up and smiled, "Follow me to meet foster father."

She took people out, and saw two riders slowly walking up and down the path.

A steed in front carried a majestic middle-aged man who was looking at the flowers and clouds, wandering around the scenery.

Sitting on an old horse behind was a young man in thin clothes with a handsome appearance and holding a piccolo, his clear eyes were already looking at Qiongying.

Lu Junyi, the Xuanfu envoy of the Daming Mansion, and Yan Qing, the entourage of the Lu family who declined his official title and was alone.

(End of this chapter)