Dawn of the Empire

Chapter 213

Zhao Xingde also recognized Li Ruobing at this time, both of them are people who have experienced wind and rain for a long time, their hearts were shocked, but their faces remained calm, pretending not to know each other.The Han army was weak and the Jurchens were strong, but the leader Wanyan Saba was in the hands of Zhao Xingde. When the two sides were at a stalemate, it was Li Ruobing who spoke in the middle, and Wanyan Saba gave another order, and the Jurchens just gave way. Let the Han army leave slowly.

Li Ruobing made up an excuse again, saying that he and the Han people speak the same language, and some of them are from the Southern Dynasty, so they can mediate in the middle and help to return Lord Meng'an. A group of Jurchen soldiers escorted Wanyan Saba and Zhao Xingde back to the Han army to protect them.This group of more than fifty Jurchen cavalry wrapped Zhao Xingde and Wanyan Saba in it, and they refused to separate from Wanyan Saba after they arrived in the Han army formation.Zhao Xingde asked Wang Tongdeng and Ma Rui to watch Wanyan Saba and the team of Jurchen cavalry, and the team gradually disappeared into the forest, so he and Li Ruobing had a chance to talk privately.

"I didn't expect such a coincidence to happen in the world!" Li Ruobing sighed and looked at Xingde, feeling a sense of sadness in his heart.I haven't seen him for many years. Compared with Bianliang, Zhao Xingde is much darker, his face is full of frost, he looks around from time to time when he speaks, and he seems to be always vigilant about the situation around him. It seems that these years have passed.He was originally a decent gentleman, but after studying with Huang Zhoushan in the past few years, he has long since given up on one family and one surname, so he doesn't take Zhao Xingde's service for the Xia Kingdom as fault, but secretly feels pity for him.In his eyes, Zhao Xingde was in a state of desperation in exile.

The two belonged to enemy countries, and it was inconvenient to talk too much about their duties, so they only talked about some personal recent situations.When Li Ruobing asked about the situation of Xingde and his wife in Xia Kingdom, he evaded the seriousness and said lightly, and then asked: "Why is elder brother here again, and is still with those Jurchens?" He also only knew that Li Ruobing was arrested He was exiled to Qiongzhou, but he didn't know what happened afterwards.

Li Ruobing said indifferently: "More than a year ago, under God's grace, he was transferred from Qiongzhou Biejia to the North Fangfang of the Privy Council. Before arriving in the capital, he got the job of observing the situation in Liaodong and escorting food, grass and military equipment. Jurchen Kingdom of Jin." He knew that Zhao Xingde was doing things for Xia Kingdom, but the alliance between Song and Jin was not a secret, and Liao Kingdom had sent people to Song Guo many times, so he told it frankly.

Zhao Xingde was stunned, and said angrily: "Damn it! You just left Qiongzhou, and you sent your elder brother to this bitter cold place again." He paused, feeling sympathy for Li Ruobing in his heart.Zhu Ying, the daughter of Wukang Army Jiedu envoy, waited for Li Ruobing bitterly. She has never been married.

Li Ruobing smiled slightly and said, "Everything in the world must be done by someone." Facing Zhao Xingde, he felt complicated emotions in his heart. Seeing that he was not depressed, but comforted himself with words, he couldn't help feeling warm in his heart, and secretly said: "Yuan Zhiben's sex' is still a sincere gentleman."

Zhao Xingde and the envoy of the Song Dynasty were talking alone, Wanyan Saba watched from a distance, and transferred [-]% of his hatred towards Zhao Xingde to Li Ruobing, secretly said: "It is said that the Snake and Mouse are a family, and the people from the Southern Dynasty are also the same as the Han people. You guys." At this moment, he didn't dare to offend Li Ruobing casually, he only kept his hatred in his heart.Although the other Chengying sergeants felt that there seemed to be some hidden feelings between the school lieutenant and the envoy of the Song Dynasty, they didn't take it to heart. Only the marching Sima Jin Changtai thought about it.

After the two chatted for a long time, Li Ruobing asked, "Why are you here, my virtuous brother? Does Xia Guo intend to use Liaodong?" He didn't mean to inquire about the military situation, but he was very curious. It's beyond the reach of the whip, but they sent a lone army, which is really puzzling.

Zhao Xingde sighed: "Khitan is like a wolf, Jurchen is like a tiger, Liaodong Han children are fish and meat, I can't bear to abandon them, so I secretly help them, and it is also used to restrain Liao and Jin." He pondered for a moment and said, "In my case From my point of view, the imperial court secretly assisting Jurchen with food and weapons is really adding wings to the tiger, I am afraid that if you fail to raise a snake, you will suffer from it instead."

Li Ruobing shook his head, and said in a deep voice: "Khitan is close, but Jurchen is far away. The ministers of the court are just making a strategy of making friends from afar and attacking from a close distance." He smiled wryly, and sighed, "It's a pity that they can't see the suffering of the Han children in Liaodong in person."

Zhao Xingde hesitated for a moment, then whispered: "Brother, I have a heartfelt request."

Li Ruobing glanced at him. If in the past, he would have said, "Since it's an unfeeling request, then don't say it." But now he said flatly, "Just say it."

Zhao Xingde said slowly: "The Han army in Liaodong is short of food, and our court is far away from it, so it is difficult to help. Can elder brother take some of the grain and grass that the court gave to the Jurchens to use for the Han army?" He paused After a while, I felt that this request was too unbelievable, so I forced a smile, "The so-called brothers stand on the wall and defend themselves against their insults. The situation is quite different now."

Just now Zhao Xingde called Kansai "My Dynasty" twice, and Bianliang "Imperial Court". Li Ruobing stared at him for a while, sighed, and did not speak.Zhao Xingde only felt quite embarrassed, and said in a low voice: "I also know that this is an unfeeling request, if it makes big brother difficult, then forget it. If I make big brother more risky, I can't explain to Ruoxue."

The north wind whistled through the woods, and in the silence, occasionally there was a crisp sound of "click", which was the sound of the bark being cracked by the extremely cold temperature.Li Ruobing asked himself that he was wearing a fur cotton robe, and it was difficult to endure the bitter cold in this extreme northern land. He really didn't know how those men who were taken captive by the Hu people in the past survived under the whips and axes of the aliens. He suddenly remembered Many of the Han army who fought desperately with the Khitan just now were skinny, and they probably never had enough to eat in their entire lives.

Li Ruobing was silent for a long time, and finally said in a deep voice: "I am a soft-spoken person, and I can't influence the court and the court. However, the food and grass escorted can still be lost to your Han army. Even military equipment and battles can be used. Give you [-]%."

In the third year of Xuanhe, the Song Dynasty sent ships across the sea to deliver Jurchen food, grass and military equipment. After several years, it has become a rule that [-]% of the shipments have lost their cargo.The lost goods were sold for silver on the spot in Mizhou.The subordinate officials also share a share.Li Ruobing has always been honest and self-reliant. After taking this mission and handing over food, grass and military equipment, he can do nothing but strictly restrain his subordinates, reducing the [-]% of the drift to [-]%. All loaded onto ships.He is the first-born student of the imperial school hand-picked by the government, and he is a well-known figure in the court. The subordinates who work under him have nothing to do except complain. They only hope that this superior will be promoted quickly so that everyone can continue to make a fortune.

Who would have thought that in just a few days in Liaodong, Li Ruobing had already seen that the Jurchens were harsher on the Han children than the Khitans, not only shaved their hair and made it easier to wear clothes, but also had the words "slave" and "servant" tattooed on their faces and the master's mark, and the masters and slaves beat and killed them. , Shangguan didn't ask.Li Ruobing is a person who has studied the books of sages and sages hard, and he is extremely disgusted with this. He is determined to persuade the court not to help this tiger and wolf clan after returning to the court. In vain, an extra [-]% of food, grass and weapons were shipped to the Jurchens.

So Zhao Xingde brought up the idea of ​​donating money to the Han army. After careful consideration, Li Ruobing hesitated, but thinking that Xia Guo was far away from Liaodong, and that the Han army might be used by the court in the future, he agreed to him.

Zhao Xingde was overjoyed, he stood up and fell to the ground with a bow, and said in a deep voice: "Brother Gao Yi, I thank you on behalf of Liaodong million Han."

Li Ruobing accepted his bow calmly, looked at Zhao Xingde and said in a deep voice, "This is not a wedding dress for Xia Guo, nor is it for your personal friendship. This is the homeland of the Central Plains, and it owes these Liaodong Han sons." He will " The word "old country" was bitten very hard, Zhao Xingde knew what it meant, but he couldn't tell the difference, so he could only whisper: "Big brother handed over [-]% of the missing military supplies to us, I don't know if my colleagues can explain the past, there are some rare local products in Liaodong , Only found in deep mountains and dense forests, I can ask the Han army to dig and collect some, and give them to my elder brother. After the Central Plains is sold, I can also manage my colleagues up and down, so as not to take the risk myself."

Li Ruobing glanced at him in surprise. Unexpectedly, Zhao Xingde, who had not yet entered an official career in Bianliang, knew about these official stories. He didn't refuse, nodded, and said in a deep voice, "Alright." He originally wanted to tell Zhao Xingde Although he can be an official in the Xia Dynasty, he must not lose to the elders in the Guandong. After pondering for a long time, he still didn't say anything. "Let's all be loyal to our country."