Dawn of the Empire

Chapter 445 Chapter 84

"What, Chen Dong is here?" Zhao Xingde was overwhelmed with surprise, and said to Lu Mingyu, "Please take me to meet Shaoyang." Lu Mingyu nodded hurriedly, Luo Xianshi refused to give in to him just now, and he is not polite now He followed closely behind Zhao Xingde, walking side by side with Lu Mingyu.In an instant, these well-known figures in the rivers and lakes all greeted them.Some water bandits Zhang Er couldn't figure it out, and asked each other: "Which one is Chen Dong?" The thief is ignorant and ignorant, but he doesn't know who Chen Dong is?After others explained it clearly, this person suddenly realized "Oh", and sighed, "So this official is Mr. Yuanzhi's friend."

On the wharf of the water village, a fast boat moored quietly.Yang Zaixing told the crossbowmen on the boat to be ready for battle, and the rowers cheered up.If something changes, turn around and leave immediately.Although Yang Zaixing is from the north, since the army went south, he is quite familiar with the southeast water villages and the habits of bandits because of his relationship with the suppression of water bandits.After arranging all these, he stood behind Chen Dong and observed the reality of the water village when he had nothing else to do. After seeing it, Yang Zaixing became interested, and secretly said: "This village is very well managed, almost as good as five The weather in Mashan is getting worse, if I send an elite army to fight, how can I fight?"

"This is Mrs. Ezhou Township," whispered the villagers on the pier, "Is it to recruit security?" The same guess, some people expect it, some people fear it, and some people dismiss it.Xie Big Ya spit into the lake, and cursed: "Zhiniang thief, recruit a bird!" Lu Da next to him looked at the flag on the official ship timidly: "If you recruit, you will have to pay two taxes, increase consumption, and discount!" Change, service money, and purchase, rate." Thinking of these already unfamiliar names, Luda's face became a little pale, "It's not enough to shave the belly all year round "He couldn't help but see the rickety corpse in the thatched hut, looking at the dignified Mr. Chen at the bow with a complex expression, he couldn't tell the difference from Mr. Li Dashan who 'forced' his family to die.

A group of people came out from behind the small round hill behind the pier, and the person in front was the head of the village, followed by many leaders of the village, including the familiar Mr. Zhao, and some heroes with familiar faces.When the members of the village looked over, Lu Mingyu had already walked up to Liu Gao in two or three steps, and asked, "Where is Master Chen?" Liu Gao pointed to the fast boat parked outside the trestle bridge and said, "That man said he was Chen Dong." .”

Chen Dong was wearing casual clothes, standing on the bow of the boat, like an ordinary squire visiting friends.He seemed to be aware of it, looked this way, and immediately saw Zhao Xingde.Just now no matter how anxious he was, he still had a leisurely demeanor outside.At this moment, he couldn't hold back anymore, his face was pleasantly surprised, and he lost his voice and said: "Yuan Zhi!" After the big case was revealed, it has been ten years since they met each other. His appearance was very different from that of ten years ago, and he didn't dare to recognize him. When he took a closer look, he was sure that it was Zhao Xingde.His stature was bigger than before, his cheeks were slightly darker, and his chin beard was shaved into an iron blue color.It was still a gentle smile, but there was a stern look in his eyes unintentionally.

"Xingde, these years have not been easy." Chen Dong said with emotion.From Zhao Xingde's letters and articles, he also roughly experienced Zhao Xingde's ten years of weather-beaten, exiled in the battlefield, and spent [-] days and nights in the army.The hardships I have experienced are probably not enough for people to understand.Just a moment ago, Chen Dong reminded himself that Zhao Xingde represented Xia Guo's power, and he must treat each other calmly and calmly.But at this moment, under the excitement, he didn't care about anything.

"Put down the plank," he hurriedly urged, "let me go to the trestle!"

With his urging, the imperial guards became more and more flustered, only to hear a "bang", the thick plank slammed obliquely on the trestle bridge, the two ends were connected, and the middle was still trembling, Chen Dong took three steps Walked over in two steps, and met Zhao Xingde who was walking on the opposite side.

"Yuanzhi, I haven't seen you in ten years, and my style is even better than before. It's good to be back this time! Very good!"

"Everyone is responsible for the rise and fall of the world, how dare you fall behind!"

The two looked at each other and laughed.In times of national calamity, when old friends reunite, they are filled with sorrow and joy, and for a while they greet the heroes of the rivers and lakes nearby.

Lu Mingyu stood beside him, and sighed secretly: "I know each other from Hanwei, one is at the height of the temple, and the other is far away in the rivers and lakes, singing and singing with each other from afar, I don't know how many storms have been caused. If there are no such two people in the Neo-Confucian Society, I'm afraid There is also no such great momentum, so that there is a trend of respecting the emperor from afar and not obeying "chaotic" orders. Ten years ago, who would have thought that a group of scholars from the Taixue would be able to respect Zhao Qi as Cai Jing Cao Di and others. The Son of Heaven contends against each other! This is how heroes make the times!" He took refuge in Zhao Xingde, and originally had the intention of chasing after him, but now seeing Zhao Xingde and Chen Dong meeting each other, he couldn't help but feel a surge of emotion, and the scar on his forehead seemed to be so hot hot.

"Chen Shaoyang is a man of 'nature' and affection," Luo Xianshi sighed, "Seeing you today, he really deserves his reputation." He suddenly felt excited, and his heart felt alert. Luo Xianshi raised his head and saw Chen Dong behind him. Standing alone with a hulking back, he just looked away from this side. "Who is so powerful?" Luo Xianshi is confident that his vision is extremely accurate, and he secretly kept his mind, "There are such strong generals in the Ezhou Township, this person is probably not unknown." If it weren't for the township Enmity with the southeast bandits is far greater than friendship, he never thought of making friends with each other.

Yang Zaixing stood quietly behind Chen Dong, and scanned the people in the wilderness. Many of them stared back, their gazes were faintly hostile.Yang Zaixing has long been used to it, he just did his duty to protect Master Chen.After confirming that none of these people had any ill intentions towards Chen Dong, Yang Zaixing's eyes fell on Zhao Xingde.Ten years ago, when Zhao Xingde was serving in Wang Yan's tent in Hejian, Yang Zaixing was just one of the bandits in Wuma Mountain.Now, he is the commander of the town government, a seventh-rank martial artist, while Zhao Xingde has been living in the rivers and lakes for ten years, recruiting reckless heroes to serve the country in Dongting.During the vicissitudes of life, personnel changes.Back then, his common enemy with Zhao Xingde was the eunuch Tong Guan, but now it is the Liao bandits who invaded south.Apart from emotion, Yang Zaixing looked at Zhao Xingde with more friendly eyes.

If Zhao Xingde noticed it, he nodded to Yang Zaixing, and then brought Lu Mingyu and others to Chen Dong.Chen Dongjiu is at the center of the imperial court, and he is also the leader of Qingliu who is famous all over the world. Now, his every move affects the ups and downs of the world's fortune.After he calmed down, with a smile on his face, he met the reckless heroes one by one. Although he was not rigid at all, it always made Lu Mingyu and others look up to them.In comparison, Zhao Xingde is still closer, making people feel like a spring breeze.

Lu Mingyu and others took Chen Dong to the guest room and asked him to rest for a while, and then went to the Juyi Hall to clean up the dust for him after half an hour.After Chen Dong sent away these Jingxiang heroes, the smile on his face disappeared. He purposely opened the door wide, seemingly informal, but in fact he could see the outside clearly, in case anyone could eavesdrop on his conversation with Zhao Xingde.

"Yuan Zhi came here at the order of the Five Houses?" When he turned around, Chen Dongyin lost the complicated look in his eyes.

"Yes." Zhao Xingde nodded, "On both sides of Hangu Pass, the brothers stand on the wall to defend against their insults. The Five Houses intend to help Song attack the Liao Dynasty, but Cao Di and others refuse to let go of Hangu Pass because of personal abolition. The Xia army was not allowed to go eastward to fight the Liao army." He shook his head and sighed, "I have been waiting for a long time in the Eastern Expedition camp, but what I waited for was the news that the Liao army broke through Bianliang. I came here On the way, I heard that the Liao army was in full swing. None of the famous cities and towns could defend for more than three days. Chuzhou, Huangzhou, and Jiangzhou fell successively. I heard that the Liao army's troops had already entered Taiping Prefecture on the Yangtze River, just because they were not good at water. We had no choice but to stop at Caishidu.” He paused, then murmured, “It is said that northerners are good at riding, and southerners are good at boats. Relying on the natural danger of the great river, maybe it can slightly curb the edge of the Liao bandits. .”

"It's too late," Chen Dong shook his head and sighed when he heard the words, "Just three days ago, Li Cheng, Kong Yanzhou, two rebel generals, in the name of honoring the orders of the officials and emperors to welcome the Liao army, suddenly made a 'chaos', 'chaos' 'The army has seized Majiadu, and the naval commander Shao Qing was defeated and died for the country. The natural danger of the river is no longer my property, and the Liao army brigade is already crossing the river."

"What about Jiankang Mansion?" Zhao Xingde asked anxiously, "Jiankang is easy to defend but hard to attack, and even more so to control Dajiang, as long as we defend..."

"Jiankang is over!" Chen Dong didn't wait for Zhao Xingde to finish, and patted the table: "Zhao Qi made the old thief Cai Jing the prime minister and asked him to take charge of the situation in the southeast, but the old thief Cai was afraid of the enemy. The news of crossing the river fled from the water gate like a frightened bird. Some of the brigade of soldiers and horses who were originally concentrated in Jiankang fled with the old thief Cai, and others scattered. Now there is only one empty city left in Jiankang, and the Liao army is attacking the city. It's all gone."

Zhao Xingde was dumbfounded when he heard this, and sighed: "I knew the southeast was empty, and the imperial army was too weak to fight. But I didn't expect it to be corrupted to this extent!" He thought that Jiankang was the most important place in the southeast, no matter how timid Zhao Qi, Cai Jing and others were The Liao people wanted to keep the southeast half of the country, and no matter what, they had to do their best to keep their health, and the clinker was so easily given up.

Chen Dong said bitterly: "It's a pity that the old thief Cai did not hesitate to ignore the family law of his ancestors in order to compete with our society for Jiankang, Hangzhou and other places. How many benevolent people in our society have been imprisoned and punished? In just over a month , There are many people who were tortured to death. He tried his best to snatch it from us, but when the Liao thief came, he gave it up. Even if they gave it to the Liao thief with both hands, they would not let us go and let us do things well. He sighed heavily, "The situation in the southeast is already in dire straits. The Liao army even dispatched only a hundred or so dozen horsemen to escort the eunuchs who came out of Bianliang to the prefectures and counties to recruit them. Yelu Dashi wanted to coerce the emperor to Ling Buchen, this piece of broken tricks used by Cao Mengde has really become a fig leaf for many unscrupulous people!"