Compete for the Song Dynasty

Qin Minxue left the Prince's Mansion, and seeing Qin Minxue's leaving back, Shi Zhaoxi ordered the guards in the mansion to keep an eye on him.When Shi Zhaoxi returned to the inner mansion, Zhao Zongmian, the king of the county, hadn't rested yet. He returned from praying at the Nanshan Temple in the past few days, and began to summon the generals of the garrison troops from all walks of life in Guangnan.The meeting room was brightly lit, and Zhao Zongmian, who had just finished his work, was sitting at the table looking at a secret letter, when Shi Zhaoxi walked in: "Your Majesty, I just went to meet the man from the capital, and that man is not sent by the imperial court." Here comes the envoy."

Zhao Zongmian said without raising his head, "I'm just saying, I think you're too careful, so there are so many officials passing through Guangnan, and they all have to see each other, I'm afraid there are only a bunch of useless civil servants left to entertain. gone."

"Your Majesty, this is a critical moment. You must not take it lightly. This person is not a high-ranking official, and he is not an envoy, but he is carrying the emperor's letter."

"Oh?" Now Zhao Zongmian raised his eyelids and looked at Shi Zhaoxi: "What's wrong with bringing the emperor's handbook? What is he doing in Guangnan? Does the emperor dare to send someone to investigate me? Get rid of him!" After a series of rhetorical questions, Zhao Zongmian made his decision without hesitation.

Shi Zhaoxi hurriedly said: "Young King, I don't think this matter is that simple. If he was really spying on you, he would definitely not come to the mansion to tell you. Besides, he said he was looking for someone, and finding someone would be very helpful to the emperor." Important person."[

"Looking for someone..." Zhao Zongmian put down the secret letter in his hand this time, raised his head and looked thoughtfully at the bright candles in the hall.After a while, Zhao Zongmian said, "Send someone to keep an eye on him! The person he is looking for is not only important to the emperor, but may also be very important to us."

Shi Zhaoxi heard that his tone was different from just now, and it seemed that he didn't have as many questions as before.He asked cautiously: "Jun Wang, it seems that you know who he is looking for?!"

Zhao Zongmian tapped the secret letter on the desk with his finger: "If I guess correctly, I'm looking for him!"

This secret letter was sent from the imperial palace in the capital. It said that the emperor's eldest son, Zhao Zhongzhen, hadn't shown up for a long time.Now the empress dowager is urging the emperor to establish a crown prince, but the emperor has not responded for a long time.There are rumors that the prince Zhao Zhongzhen left the capital privately, but no one knows where the prince went.Fire cannot be contained in paper, no matter how careful the emperor is, there will still be rumors about such a big event.Now the emperor is sitting on pins and needles every day. If this continues, he can become ill even if he is not sick, not to mention that Emperor Yingzong himself is a sick person.

"Look!" Zhao Zongmian forwarded the secret letter, Shi Zhaoxi went to the desk, and took the secret letter respectfully.After reading it two or three times, he said: "This letter is a bit interesting, King of the County. It seems that the Empress Dowager is biased towards you. You see, the crown prince is not the crown prince."

"Well, this is the empress dowager's good intentions! It seems that there must be a reason for this person to come today. You must immediately order someone to guard the city gate. No matter who he is looking for, anyone around the age of 20 You can't leave the city!" The county king urgently issued an order.

When the king of the county issued the order, Wang Pang and Zhao Zhongzhen were discussing at the Nanshan Temple to find the king of the county to escort King Ying back to the capital.Wang Pang thought to himself, it's not a big deal that Zhao Zhongzhen always follows him like this.In his impression, Yingzong had only been emperor for four years, and it was not too long before the crown prince was established. If Zhao Zhongzhen was not in the capital at this time, history might really have changed because of his existence.Moreover, he also hoped that Zhao Zhongzhen would return to the capital as soon as possible. There was another reason. After all, his son didn't know where he was now, so he couldn't help feeling sorry for Song Yingzong because of the same illness.

The next day, Wang Pang accompanied Zhao Zhongzhen to burn incense, and on the way back to Shaozhou City, Wang Pang suddenly felt that the atmosphere was not right.There are many people on the road to Shaozhou City today, and most of them are young and middle-aged.How could so many people suddenly go to Shaozhou City at the same time, and even though these people were wearing plain clothes, they could tell that they were either officials or nobles.Because if it is an ordinary family, it is rare to ride a horse.In a short time, three or four groups of people passed by them.

Wang Pang might not be so sensitive in normal times, but now he is surrounded by the prince, Wang Pang seems relaxed all the way, but his nerves are always tense.He reined in the horse and stopped, beckoning Zhe Kejun with his hand.

"My lord, what's the matter?" Zhe Kejun walked up to him and saw Wang Pang frowning slightly.

"I always feel that something is wrong today. How many teams of horse riders have passed by us in a while? And the carriage just now, did you see it?"

"I see! Young Master, is there something important going on in Shaozhou City?" Zhe Kejun asked.

"Well, if it was an ordinary gathering, there would be a lot of people going to the city, but most of the people are ox carts, and there are men, women and children. There are quite a few middle-aged people on the road today, and some of them have tattoos on their faces. (Tattoos on the faces of soldiers in the Song Dynasty)

Zhao Zhongzhen listened and leaned over: "Brother Wang, could it be that my father found this place?" He said with a little excitement in his tone.

Wang Pang shook his head: "If your father sends people, one or two teams will be enough, and you won't have to send several teams here and there. Brother Zhe, please go to the gate of the city to have a look first, we will wait here you!" .Wang Pang, Zhong Zhen and others stopped by the side of the road, and occasionally people passing by them would look at these people.Especially the horse by Wang Pang was really eye-catching, Wang Pang ordered Zhang Ping to stay where he was, and he led the horse with a needle, walked down the post road, and tied the horse.Zhong Zhen smiled: "Brother Wang, you are too careful."

"I don't know what's going on now, but we're standing on the side of the road, it's really conspicuous. Look how nice it is, the trees are shady, let's rest here."

While waiting for someone, Zhong Zhen looked towards the road from time to time, Wang Pang knew that he was thinking of going back to the capital, and wished he could go back sooner: "Your idea is true, you have been out for almost two months now. ? I didn’t expect to go so far, did I?” Wang Pang smiled and looked at Zhao Zhongzhen, who was absent-minded.

"Hey, isn't it?! I really didn't expect that we only have four roads and a dozen states, and it's only been more than two months. Think of me, Dasong Road 23, more than 200 states, what a big place this is!" Zhao Zhongzhen As he spoke, his eyes lit up, and he felt a little proud from the bottom of his heart.

But in the eyes of Wang Pang, what is that?The land area of ​​the Northern Song Dynasty was 460 million square kilometers, which was half of the 960 million in Wang Bang's time.He smiled slightly, looked at Zhongzhen's smug look, and suddenly Zhongzhen asked: "Brother Wang, you have also been to Xixia and Liao, are they much smaller than our Great Song?"

Wang Pang has long seen that Zhong Zhen is quite ambitious, and now he has to hold him down and tell the truth. In case he drifts away in the future, it is not a joke to send troops to fight: "Just saying it is better than We have less land in the Song Dynasty, but Xixia and Liao, together with Tubo and Uyghur, have more land than the Song Dynasty. Therefore, although the Song Dynasty has a large area, it is not easy to make enemies, let alone I told you yesterday, Many important resources are in the hands of others, such as horses and mines!"

"Hehe, I know. I listened to what you said yesterday. Aren't we short of money now? Brother Wang, don't worry, one day I will be the master. I will definitely listen to you and your father and fill up the national treasury first. "

This guy thinks very far, if Yingzong is finished now, are you still in Shaozhou?You are fine if you are not punished, and you will be allowed to call the shots?Wang Pang thought so in his heart, and hummed, now that he has so many things to do, he originally planned to go south to see the mine mentioned by his master Zhang Yi, and then consider the matter of opening the ancient tea-horse road. It cannot be mixed.

"Hey~Brother Wang, I just remembered something, do you remember Wang Shao Wang Zichun?"

"Zichun?? Of course I remember. He wasn't a tourist in Shaanxi back then, why? Have you met him?" Wang Pang still had a deep impression of Wang Shao, and that was one of the few friends he made at the beginning. Wang Shao left the capital and rarely had a chance to meet him.

"Just now when you mentioned Tubo, I remembered it. Before you returned to the capital, I met him and became good friends with him. He said, 'To take Xixia, you must restore Hehuang first, so that the Xia people will suffer from the enemy'. I will take him I told my father about my thoughts, and my father also appointed him as the stationed soldier Ma Qian of Huanqing Road, specializing in managing the affairs of this road and Yanyan Road, and stationed in Qingzhou."

"Oh? What is Zichun, the soldier stationed in the berth, responsible for?" Wang Bang suddenly became more interested. He wants to take the ancient tea-horse road, which is really from Shu to Tubo. It would be great to have Wang Shao's route. up.

"Zichun is to monitor the situation of the Tibetan Ministry and deal with the lawsuits of the Tibetan Ministry. If there are rewards or punishments for the Tibetan Ministry, he will discuss the disposal with the generals of the same road. He will report to the imperial court for major events, and is responsible for uniting the Tibetan Ministry and helping the Tibetans to resettle them. Old people, children. Also, if the Xixia army attacks Tubo, they will assist Tubo in fighting."

Great, this is so perfect, this really wants to eat ice and hailstones

Wang Bian was overjoyed when he heard this. With Wang Shao's road, his desire to take the ancient tea-horse road can be said to be twice the result with half the effort.He was secretly happy in his heart, at this moment, Zhe Kejun came back, and another person came with Zhe Kejun.

"Master, there is indeed something wrong!" Zhe Kejun jumped off his horse on the side of the road, walked into the woods and said, "Shaozhou City is guarded by heavy soldiers, and you can only enter but not exit. But it is not generalized, but people of the age of the two sons, all You are not allowed to go out of the city, and not all Shaozhou people will be brought to the county palace. Also, I met Wa Zhuang who was about to enter the city, so I brought him too."

Wa Zhuang was sent by Wang Pang to inform Nan Jifeng yesterday, why did he return to Shaozhou City so soon?Wang Pang saw Wa Zhuang, and Wa Zhuang hurried over and said, "My lord, I was going to Lianzhou yesterday, and I met General Nan's team at the halfway station. They also came to Shaozhou. But I heard that you are in Shaozhou, he Said that he will not enter the city first, please go over and discuss!"

This is not right. Nan Jifeng is in Yongzhou. Geographically speaking, Shaozhou is one north and one south of Guangnan; in terms of division, it is said that there are two roads, East Road and West Road. Even Nan Jifeng comes to Shaozhou. What happened to the state?