Dawn of the Empire

457 Chapter 86

Zhou He asked: "Mr. Li advocates going to Ezhou to take refuge first. What does the Shaodong family mean?" According to Shen Yun's instructions, their duty is to protect Zhao Huan, and their whereabouts can be determined by her will.In the eyes of the officials of all dynasties, the less the generals of the Imperial City Commander had no opinions of their own, the more loyal they were.

Under Li Ruoxu's hopeful gaze, Zhao Huan frowned slightly, biting his lips with his white teeth, and did not answer for a long time.She originally had a carefree personality, but after living in the Leng Palace for three years, she remained silent no matter when it was sneering or indecisive from others.Zhou He and others have been following her for a while, and they also understand her habit, so they don't ask any more questions.

Not far from them, several young people who had fled gathered together, all of them were scholars who had escaped from the Imperial Academy.After the fall of Bianliang, the Baoyi Army was unwilling to go out of the city to serve as a signing army, and the Taixue scholars who acted as officers took the lead in fleeing, and the "market rangers" who were originally recruited temporarily scattered.The Liao army hated the scholars of Taixue for the main battle, and ordered the Kaifeng government officials to arrest the students who took the lead in the riot. Ma Yuan, Liu Wengu, Jia Yuanzhen, Yu Chicheng and others could not stay in Bianliang, so they met and escaped secretly.

Ma Yuan looked this way, and said in a low voice, "Did you see that group? It's weird." Jia Yuan gave him a white look, "Of course a guy who can ride a horse is weird." He looked at Li with some envy. The mount of Ruoxu and others.Even the regular Forbidden Army may not have such good horses, let alone such miscellaneous troops as the Baoyi Army.

Ma Yuan shook his head, twitched his mouth, glanced at Zhao Huan, and said quietly: "That short one is a beautiful woman." He lowered his voice and said, "Those guards are not ordinary people. It looks like he's a member of the army." All the Tai students looked at Wang Chongyi and the others, and nodded one after another.

Not far away, Wang Chongyi frowned and yelled in this direction: "What are you looking at!"

This sound was like spring thunder on the dry ground, and the roar made all the students shudder in their hearts. These people saw that they were not good at it, so they quickly looked away.In fact, they were also disguised, for fear of being recognized as fugitive Baoyi Army officers.Liu Wengu complained: "Staring at other people's family members is not taught by a saint. Alas, do not despise evil, do not despise evil!"

Wang Chongyi spit on the ground, and said contemptuously: "I'm afraid!" Zhou He looked at the group of fleeing young people and felt that there was no threat, so he ignored them and nodded: "The horses have rested enough, let's start again." "Well," he said shaking his head, "there are too many fleeing civilians, and if they walk together, they will easily be targeted by the Lie Liao brigade, and by then it will be too late."

At this moment, there was a burst of exclamation and noise from the surrounding of the fleeing people, and everyone's expressions changed. Wang Chongyi and the others stood up and looked in the direction of the commotion, all of them frowned. A few riders took the lead, followed by more than 200 young men, with messy clothes, each holding knives, guns and sticks, and it was not known whether they were soldiers or bandits.Zhou He held the reins of the horse with one hand, observed for a while, and found that this group of people and horses came straight, did not spread out to surround the place where the people gathered, and there was no looting along the way, he raised his head slightly. With the left hand, he signaled Wang Chongyi and the others to be calm and calm down. Let's see what the purpose of this group of people is, they may not all be bandits in the troubled times.

This group of people walked into the woods and found an open space. The soldiers were busy burying pots and cooking, and did not 'harass' the people.A thin-faced middle-aged man seemed to be the leader. He rode slowly through the woods and said loudly: "Fellow folks, don't panic, don't panic, we are Tangzishan volunteer soldiers, and we are going to Ezhou to join Mr. Zhao Xingde. Serve the country and expel the northern captives." He glanced at the people in the forest, and when he saw Ma Yuan, Wang Chongyi and other young men, he stopped for a while, and then said loudly, "Mr. Zhao Yuanzhi raised the flag of rebellion in Jingxiang , is recruiting heroes from all over the world to go to the country together, they are good men, and those who want to serve the country can follow our Tangzishan soldiers and horses."

"Mr. Yuan Zhi?" Ma Yuan and the others looked at each other in disbelief. At this moment, an old man next to him muttered in a low voice, "What volunteers? They're just bandits." Ma Yuan and the others were even more puzzled, because Zhao Xingde had been missing for more than ten years, so it's not surprising that the volunteers are now chaotically attacking his banner.

"It's him," Zhao Huan felt breathless, "Is he in Ezhou?" His heart beat almost uncontrollably.She looked at Li Ruoxu, because he was Zhao Xingde's in-law, Li Ruoxu had only surprise on his face, apparently he didn't know, but Li Ruoxu's eyes were less suspicious than others.Zhou He, Wang Chongyi and others also showed strange expressions. Although Zhao Xingde is also a fugitive, when did the Qingliu celebrities get mixed up with these Jianghu warriors again?

The common people did not dare to speak, but their faces were full of disbelief, Liang Xiu couldn't help being a little annoyed, if it was in the past, he would take out a horsewhip to beat these ignorant guys.At this time, Ding Zhuang asked timidly: "Follow the king, do you have food?" Liang Xiuxun looked at the prestige, and saw that the person who asked the question had a look of food on his face. He thought he was very hungry, so he laughed and said: " Come up to my Tangzi Mountain, drink in a big bowl, eat meat with big mouthfuls, share the blessings and share the troubles." After he finished speaking, the man was not only displeased, but his face changed drastically, and Liang Xiu stopped talking. I made a mistake, and revealed the incision that I used to hold Ding Zhuang, and hurriedly changed my words: "Follow Mr. Zhao, we are both officers and soldiers. When Mr. Zhao stutters, brother you will be indispensable. If you don't eat I didn’t drink it, Mr. Zhao agreed, and asked the county government for it, and if the government doesn’t have us, we will eat the big family.”

After Liang Xiu finished speaking, he saw that the people's faces became more suspicious, and they seemed to think him a liar.Liang Xiu felt unprecedentedly aggrieved, and immediately took out a roll of yellow paper from her bosom, and shouted: "Is there anyone who can read and write? This is Mr. Zhao's list of recruiting heroes. If you don't believe me, come and see for yourself." ?”

Seeing that he made such an oath and showed the announcement, the common people were a little confused about what he was doing.The style of writing in the Song Dynasty was prosperous, and there were not many or few literate people among the fleeing people. Immediately, several young and old went up to read the list.Liang Xiu was very happy and generous, so he simply handed over the list to these common people and let them read it for themselves.After Liu Wengu and the others exchanged glances, Ma Yuan stood up and went over to see what was true. Zhao Yuanzhi's moral essays were unique and familiar to all the Tai students, and they were not easily forged by bandits.Zhou He and others looked at each other, Li Ruoxu glanced at Zhao Huan, Zhao Huan's heart fluttered, and he nodded slightly, Li Ruoxu stood up and went forward to see what happened.

"Sure enough," Liang Xiu smiled complacently, "Mr. Yuanzhi's name is still useful." Looking at Ding Zhuang who surrounded him, Liang Xiu calculated that although he had less than 300 people under his command, recruiting troops along the way would not be enough. When we arrived in Ezhou, five hundred would be enough.According to Zhao Xingde's announcement, if the volunteers of the Baoyi Army do not disband, and there are actually more than [-] troops, the leader will actually be awarded the command post.For more than ten days, this list has caused quite a stir in the counties and prefectures of Jingxiang.Because the Liao army marched southward in a large scale, bandits or local tyrants like Liang Xiu were already panicked and found it difficult to resist.Zhao Xingde's announcement came out, and the Liao army drove fish for Yuan, and there were naturally a large number of volunteers from all states and counties who went to Ezhou to join him.

Ma Yuan squeezed to the front to look, and there were big characters on the notice board that read "Seventeen Prohibition Grace Agreement". He laughed softly and said, "Now, it won't work if you don't join Mr. Zhao!"

Liu Wengu wondered: "What does this mean?" Ma Yuan laughed and said, "Mr. Zhao recruited heroes from all corners of the country to rebuild the Baoyi Army in Ezhou. We are members of the Baoyi Army, how can we stand by and watch?" Liu Wengu and the others were surprised and delighted , Jia Yuanzhen hesitated and said: "Don't make a mistake, but it's true." Ma Yuan shook his head and said, "I don't think it's fake." Once again, he laughed again, "This Yuan Zhi's article cannot be produced by others." Liu Wengu and others discussed for a while, and they also felt that the article on the list was [-]% or [-]% true, and immediately decided to go to Ezhou to re-enroll in the Baoyi Army.

In another group of people, Li Ruoxu also said the content of the announcement.Zhao Huan was fine, but Huang Chengsi and the others were quite moved.The Jinyan Mansion of the Imperial City Secretary is also responsible for monitoring the forbidden army, and has seen many intrigues in the army.Although the imperial court's prohibition is strict, in actual implementation, it is not as good as Zhao Xingde's seemingly lenient agreement, and it is even more difficult to accept the hearts of the heroes.

Zhou He, Wang Chongyi and others looked at each other, and Zhou He sighed: "This Mr. Zhao is really a strange person." Seeing the puzzled look on Li Ruoxu's face, he explained, "These agreements seem to be loose. , in fact, when fighting, if the armies can really do it one by one, it will be very good."

Although Li Ruoxu is Zhao Xingde's in-laws, he still doubted and said: "For example, if ten times the enemy's army comes to attack, the defenders of the isolated city can withdraw by themselves. If the casualties are more than [-]%, they can withdraw from the battlefield by themselves for repairs. Although it is a defense The general intends to consume subordinate subordinates, but is such a treaty too lenient? If we act like this, all the ministries will scramble to retreat and refuse to obey the leadership, and the army may not be able to fight, right?"

"Thirty percent?" Wang Chongyi sneered, "If you can survive until thirty percent of the casualties are withdrawn, you will already be a great elite soldier." He pouted his lips at the volunteer soldiers who were burying their pots and cooking in the distance, and said contemptuously, "This The miscellaneous soldiers who look like only use cavalry to charge forward. If seven or eight people are killed, their morale will collapse and they will be unable to fight. If [-]% of the casualties can be retreated calmly in front of the enemy, wouldn't it be one of the most powerful soldiers in Hedong. Isn't that what Hebei camping is all about?"

Zhou He also nodded, and sighed: "Even if there are no ten times more troops to attack, there are still many officers and soldiers who are invincible. The law does not blame the crowd. Otherwise, how could the tens of thousands of soldiers and horses captured by the North sweep the Jianghuai River?"

Li Ruoxu was still suspicious, but Zhao Huan nodded, and said softly, "In that case, let's go to Ezhou first." She turned her head to the side, and an unconcealable joy flashed in her eyes.