At the beginning of the seventh year of Qingli, Xia Zhu, the envoy of Hebei Road, entered Beijing, and Wang Yiyong was the same as the privy envoy, and the privy council returned to the old system of two chief officials. Almost at the same time, Wang Kai was deployed by Linfu Road, promoted to and acted as the commander of the road and in charge of the military and horse affairs of the Goulinfu Road, and Zhang Qi was promoted to the deployment of the Linfu Road, and still served as the patrol envoy along the border. Immediately afterwards, Du Zhongxiao and Wang Kai were allowed to enter Beijing to perform, and the affairs of the Volcano Army were managed by Zhang Qi.

In the camp field, Du Zhongxiao took the official document and said to Wang Kai: "Jurisdiction, the imperial court let us take the pass to Que, and we can't delay for a moment." But we were asked to bring muskets and artillery for the secretary to inquire about. The musket is okay to say, the artillery is heavy, where to go fast on the road? ”

Wang Kai said: "I don't think the artillery is too heavy, it's just a few camels and carry them there." Since the court has thus decided, we should be cautious, and we should bring more than negligence. ”

Du Zhongxiao smiled bitterly: "Thousands of miles away on this road, countless post stations are handed over to shops, but I am afraid that there will be no camels to change." ”

Wang Kai said: "Just bring a few more." Our army has its own pack animals, and the army does not need to bother about this. ”

The details of the first battle in Tanglong Town were reported to the Privy Council by Wang Kai and Zhang Qi, which boasted about the muskets and artillery, calling them a sharp weapon for defending the city, and the one who was the powder was the powder. And said that if these weapons are used on a large scale, there will be no need to fear the cavalry of the Khitan and the party. It also shows that these weapons are all made by Du Zhongxiao, using flame nitrate to launch projectiles, which are exquisitely made and have unpredictable abilities. waited until now to let him enter Beijing, not because the imperial court was calm, but because no one believed it, and they all thought that it was an exaggeration by the border generals. It wasn't until Xia La entered the Privy Council and believed that Du Zhongxiao, the old ministry, was allowed to enter Beijing for a demonstration. This is the benefit of some people in the DPRK, otherwise there may not be a reward if there is merit.

Wang Kai and Zhang Qi have both been promoted, Du Zhongxiao is not under the jurisdiction of the Privy Council, and he will not know until he enters Beijing whether he will be rewarded. At this time, Zhaowenxiang was Jia Changchao, Xia Zhu returned to Beijing, he suspected that Xia Zhu intended to write in the Chinese book, and Du Zhongxiao had been his judge, so he dragged it out.

Du Zhongxiao was not in a hurry to bring muskets and artillery to the capital for demonstration, this thing was useful, it was undoubtedly a thing. As an intellectual, he can build a small firearms army, and he does not need the full support of the imperial court. When the time comes, it is much better to make a splash and make a great contribution than to enter Beijing now. However, Wang Kai and Zhang Qi attached great importance to this and wrote to the court many times.

cleaned up with Wang Kai and explained everything to Zhang Qi, but Du Zhongxiao was still a little worried. It has been repeatedly told that Tanglong Town is heavily armed, but the grain and grass must be transported from the Volcano Army, not from the local area. For the time being, households are not allowed to live in the city, and they will wait until they are doing their own work to calmly arrange.

It is customary for military generals in this area to be the governor of the state army, although Zhang Yu felt that Du Zhongxiao was too cautious, he still agreed one by one. In the past few months, the two sides have cooperated happily and made great contributions, so there is no need to worry about these small things.

Starting from the Volcano Army, passing through Luzhou, all the way south, it was mid-February to Xijing Henan Mansion. Take the pass to Que, one post a day, the date is fixed, there is only very little maneuver time, Du Zhongxiao and Wang Kai did not delay for a day.

Coming out of the post house and looking at the Luoyang City Gate not far away, Du Zhongxiao sighed: "It's a pity that I can't go inside to visit this thousand-year-old capital." When we come back, the road is less urgent, and we should walk slowly, and we will no longer be so tired. ”

Wang Kai smiled: "What is this!" The two armies went to war, and the soldiers marched much faster than that. We had a post house to rest at the road, and we were ready to eat and drink, which was much better than then. Wait for us to return to the court, and the return journey will depend on the army! ”

Du Zhongxiao smiled and shook his head, seventy or eighty miles a day, not much, but every day like this, I really can't stand it. Of course, Wang Kai is right, when fighting, marching is much more difficult than himself. But now there is no war, is it?

After leaving Henan Mansion and getting on the Liangjing Post Road, the road is much easier. Three days later, when they arrived outside the Xinzheng Gate, Du Zhongxiao and Wang Kai went to the table together to ask for a meeting and rested in the post house outside the city. When officials from other places enter Beijing, they must obtain a decree before they can enter the city, and the length of time may not be known. Anyway, Du Zhongxiao and the two arrived outside the city within the time limit, and there was no violation, and other arrangements had nothing to do with the two.

At this time, it was spring, and the smoke and willows outside Bianliang City were green, and the goshawks were soaring, compared with the Volcano Army, they were completely two scenes.

Du Zhongxiao stood outside the door of the post house, looking at the surrounding scenery and the pedestrians on the road, and his heart was infinitely emotional. Before I knew it, I had been away from here for almost two years. The past two years have been so busy that I can't even feel the passage of time. It's a pity that I was in a hurry to enter Beijing this time, and I didn't have time to send a letter to my family, otherwise it would be better to let my parents and wives meet here. I don't know how many days I can stay in the capital, and my family can't come in time.

At this moment, a horse stopped on the road, and an official came down and said to Du Zhongxiao: "Wait for Xiao, you have really arrived!" ”

Du Zhongxiao turned his head and saw that it was Han Jiang, and hurriedly stepped forward. After Chen Zhoutong was sentenced to one term, Han Jiang entered the pavilion, and later served as Tongzhi Taichang Rite Academy, at this time he was the Zhiji Xian Academy, the palace servant Yu Shi, and the Kaifeng Mansion Push Official. He not only has a museum position, but his official rank is also higher than Du Zhongxiao, not to mention that the Kaifeng Mansion Governor is countless times stronger than Du Zhongxiao's Zhijun. In the same year of the year, Han Jiang was still the person with the highest official position.

Hurriedly stepped forward and saluted, Du Zhongxiao said: "I have only been in the post house for less than an hour, and I didn't want Zihua to rush over." ”

Han Jiang said: "I have calculated the time limit for you to arrive in the capital, and sent someone to look here." As soon as you arrived in the capital, I got the news. ”

After a few words of greeting, Du Zhongxiao let Han Jiang go to his own residence in the post house, and the guests and hosts sat down.

Asked about the hard work along the way, Han Jiang said: "A few years ago, you occupied Tanglong Town, and defeated the Khitan to plunder the people, and it spread in the capital. It's a pity that the Volcano Army has a long way to go, and there is no news, and there is no exact information, so I don't know what you are doing. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "It's a shame to say that this battle only fired a few shots, and did not fight with the Khitans. Those Khitan people went deep into the Song Realm, and there was no food and grass to replenish, and finally died of cold and starvation, but it was a harvest from heaven. Later, the Tibetan tribe broke through their stockade, plundered away, and joined the party. ”

Han Jiang smiled and said, "Brother, you said it easily, but I don't know how scary it is in the capital." It is said that you have defeated the Khitan and occupied a good territory, but they are afraid that the Khitan will not be angry and raise a large army to fight with this dynasty! ”

Du Zhongxiao also smiled: "These words are just to scare the ignorant people, which official will believe it?" At this time, the Khitan was at odds with the party, and they were fighting every year, how could they start a war for a small city that did not belong to them. Besides, it was the Khitans who went deep into the Song Realm, and we were careful everywhere and never attacked them, so what could the Khitans say? If you don't bring food and grass by yourself, you can't support it, so it's no wonder who comes! ”

Han Jiang shook his head: "If you don't believe it, this is not a rumor from the ordinary people, and many officials are also convinced." In the past few months, officials have issued chapters from time to time, requesting that heavy troops be assembled on Hebei Road, repair the city, and prevent the Khitan from moving south. Until you talked to the Khitan envoys, the two countries made documents, and some officials said that it was the Khitan's delaying strategy! It was Xia Taiwei's strong advocacy that dispelled the doubts of the imperial court. ”

Du Zhongxiao said helplessly: "Marching and fighting is not child's play, the Khitan has to go south with heavy troops, and it has to prepare for a long time, everything has a clue." Since the first battle of Tanglong Town, the Khitan soldiers and horses have not moved, how can there be a war. ”

Han Jiang sighed: "You are a person who has been an official in the border area, and you have your own sense of proportion. But how many officials in the court used to be officials in the border areas? How many have been in battle? What you take for granted is not what others think. ”

As Fan Zhongyan, Han Qi and others left the imperial court and went to other places to serve as officials, most of the officials who grew up on the battlefield in the northwest were squeezed out, and there were not many who were officials in the imperial court. In the first battle of Tanglongzhen, Du Zhongxiao, Wang Kai and Zhang Qi on the front line were calm, but they didn't want to frighten many Korean and Chinese officials. They didn't know what the front line was like, they didn't know how easy it was to win this battle, they only heard that the land was hundreds of miles away, and they thought that there was going to be a big war.