The rain had not yet fallen, but the sky was already as dark as the bottom of a pot, and it was so overwhelming that people panicked. The wind had stopped, the willow branches on the side of the road were weak and motionless, and the whole world was unusually silent.

Jia Jirong walked out of the yamen of the lifting division, looked at the sky, and his face was as gloomy as the sky.

The servant who was waiting outside led the horse, waited for Jia Jirong to get on the horse, and asked in a low voice: "Yanei, the sky is cloudy like this, should we stay here for one night before leaving?" ”

"It's not my own home, I can't sleep well! Walk! ”

Jia Jirong said with a calm face, urged the horse, and hit the road first. The servant shook his head and had to follow.

The road from Pingxiang to the south to Zhennanguan and Menzhou has been closed, and except for the army and sugar workers, other idle people are prohibited from passing. Jia Jirong wanted to go back to Langzhou, so he had to go around to Shixi Prefecture to Luzhou, and from there he turned back, which was equivalent to going around in a circle.

The gloomy weather, the gloomy mood, Jia Jirong beat the horse fast. As a result, when he was about to arrive in Shixi Prefecture, he encountered a march, and he was blocked there for more than half an hour, and he was interrogated by a team general.

Looking at the dust raised by the departure of the army, Jia Jirong's face was so gloomy that he was about to drip water, and his eyes were red.

There are more and more soldiers and horses gathered on the front line of Pingxiang and Luzhou, and Xu Ping's sentence "The soldiers and horses of the Great Song Dynasty are my truth" still echoes in his ears. Jia Jirong didn't know if Xu Ping would put his words into action, but these thousands of soldiers and horses had really become stones on Jia Tong's head.

As a local snake, Jia Yu naturally inquired about the number of Song troops on the current border and formed a seven-command box army. It has been hundreds of years since such a large army has been concentrated in this area. If you add to that the miscellaneous stragglers. There are more than 4,000 people. How could Ko not feel nervous.

The small basins scattered in the mountains could not support a large army at all, and more than a thousand people were all great powers, and the directly subordinate army under the control of Jiatong himself did not exceed two thousand, and the various vassal forces could only raise five thousand people at most. But people are different from others, these tribal armies are against the regular army of the imperial court, and they all think highly of themselves from one to one, and what does Jia Yu do to resist Xu Ping.

Not to mention, the Horde army still has some combat effectiveness on the inner line. Once out of their own territory, they can only fight with the wind, and a small defeat will lead to a big rout.

Not far from where Jia Jirong stood, there was a white wall with the latest notice of the lifting division pasted on it. In the past few years, almost all kinds of disputes on the border between the two countries have been dug up by Xu Pingquan, losing a chicken today and a pig tomorrow, all of which are the news that the people under the rule of the Great Song Dynasty were robbed by Jiaozhi.

This is not Xu Ping's planting, these are the facts. Because of the constraints of realistic conditions. The imperial court has always adopted an attitude of calming down border disputes, and the border people have no one to support them. How is it possible to find trouble with cochin. On the contrary, as a local land snake, Jiatong constantly squeezed into the Song Realm, and it was common to enter the country and plunder. It's just that now the situation on the border has changed, and Xu Ping turned these things out and wanted to settle the account with Jiao Toenails.

These news have spread throughout the villages under the rule of Zuojiang Province in a few months, and even the children herding cattle have felt the tension of the situation. The troops concentrated in the vicinity are constantly announcing to everyone that there will be no peace on the border this year.

Jia Jirong looked at the sky, and the dark clouds seemed to be about to press on top of his head, making people breathless.

If you don't want to bow your head to Xu Ping, you have to find Jiaozhi to support you, Jiatong can't stop it, and Jiaozhi can't afford the consequences of losing Langzhou and opening the door of Shenglong Mansion.

In the pavilion behind the yamen, Xu Ping and Sang Yi sat idly. When the weather was cloudy, it was a lot cooler even if there was no wind, so I just went outside to change the air.

Listening to Xu Ping say about Jia Jirong's coming, Sang Yi said: "Yunxing, do you really want to fight Liangzhou?" ”

"It depends on what Jia Yu does, if you don't bow your head, this battle can't be avoided. There are some things that cannot be controlled by man. A few months ago, when I first came to Pingxiangtong, it was still between whether to fight or not, but now, the soldiers and horses have moved, and the people are raging, and it is no longer who can calm things down with a word. It's like a person who mentions it in one breath, and if there is nothing to vent, he will hold back his internal injuries. If you can't subdue the surrounding area this time, the development of cane sugar in this area will lose momentum in the future, and it is easy to have an accident. ”

Sang Yiqi said: "Now that the cane sugar business is like a rainbow, what will happen?" ”

Xu Ping shook his head slightly: "If you don't participate in the affairs of the sugar business, you naturally can't feel it." In the past few years, the development has been too fast, people from all over the world have poured in, and the foundation of cane sugar business is not yet solid. ”

Speaking of which, Xu Ping only clicked to the point, did not elaborate, and Sang Yi did not ask again.

The cane sugar workers are divided into three parts, the main force is the retired van army, followed by the Fujian Road immigrants, but the number of people is the local people. Coupled with the fact that these factors are mixed with the regional and township parties, how can it be a harmonious atmosphere under such huge interests? It's just that the development has been rapid in the past two years, and Xu Ping is careful in doing things, and the differences are all pressed under the water, and he doesn't show it.

Now that the sugar cane business has been extended to Pingxiang, once it is frustrated, it is easy to have civil strife. On the contrary, if the armor is defeated this time, there will be no obstacle to the expansion of the sugar business, and the internal stability will be stabilized.

After a pause, Sang Yi changed the topic: "The strange thing is that there has been no movement in Menzhou until now, so it shouldn't be!" The roads in Zhennanguan have been closed for two or three months, and the traffic there has been cut off, how could the Huang family be so calm? What the hell do they think? ”

"Menzhou is sandwiched between the Great Song Dynasty and Jiaozhi, and it is not easy for them to make decisions. It's like a wall grass, you watch it sway left and right with the wind, but in fact it is firmly rooted, and it is not easy to make it move. I estimate that if Menzhou makes up his mind, I'm afraid someone will have to help us push it. ”

"Who's going to help us?"

Xu Ping smiled: "Either Jiatong or Guangyuan Prefecture, I think nine times out of ten it is Guangyuan Prefecture." No matter what, there is still a Jiaozhi behind Jiatong to rely on, Guangyuan Prefecture has no roots, and Menzhou is their life. ”

Speaking of this, Xu Ping said again: "By the way, the day before yesterday, I sent someone back to Taiping County to bring Zhou Deming, and it should be there in the next two days." This little Yanei in Qiyuan Prefecture has suffered a lot, and he has stayed in Taiping County for a year, and he doesn't want to go back to do anything about Zhizhou. However, his whole family died in the hands of the Jiaozhi people and the Nong family of Guangyuan Prefecture, and the blood feud could not be avenged, and he told me many times that he would contribute to the imperial court's conquest of Guangyuan Prefecture. ”

"Qiyuan State?" Sang Yi pondered for a while, "This time, it will fall on him!" We haven't had the strength to go there in Frozen Prefecture, so we might as well let Zhou Deming lead a team of people and horses from there to take down Qiyuan Prefecture first! Qiyuan Prefecture is in hand, and the wall grass in Menzhou will not be done! ”

Xu Ping was silent and thought for a while. It's not that he hasn't thought about this plan, but his personality has always been calm and doesn't want to take risks. Let a local official still be just a soldier in the ya, even if it is nominally, Xu Ping still can't accept it in his heart. The soldiers and horses are outside, once an accident occurs, and he can't even understand the process, Xu Ping has been trying his best to avoid this kind of thing. Rolling mountains, it is too easy to swallow a thousand people inexplicably.

In the end, Xu Ping still said: "Forget it, there's no need for that." You have 5,000 soldiers and horses, the supply is sufficient, and the road to Guangyuan Prefecture is like a broken bamboo, no one can stop you, and you don't have to make extraneous branches. ”

Sang Yi nodded and didn't say anything. There is no right or wrong in this kind of thing, it only depends on the personal choice of the coach, some people like to make strange moves, and some people like to press step by step, it doesn't matter how high or low.

"I have another idea, though." Xu Ping said to Sang Yi, "When you send out the army, bring Zhou Deming with you, let him follow the front team and seize Qiyuan Prefecture first." It was the territory of the Zhou family, and the Nong family didn't have many soldiers and horses there, so it was not difficult to take it. After capturing Qiyuan Prefecture, I will make a foothold for you and rest there. Let's see if the Nong family can calm down, if they send troops to seize Qiyuan Prefecture, they will just fight there. If you play well in Qiyuan Prefecture, maybe you can easily enter Guangyuan Prefecture. ”

"That's fine, with him, at least you can use the power of the Zhou family."

There are many tribes in the mountains, and the powerful power of the big surname cannot be underestimated.

After traveling on the road for several days and nights, Jia Jirong finally returned to Jiatong, and went straight to his father's residence as soon as he got off the horse.

Entering the living room, Jia Jirong paced back and forth irritably, unable to stop for a moment.

Jia Chenggui came out of the inner room, frowned and asked, "This time I went to see the officials of the Song State, what did he say to make you so discouraged?" You are the one who is going to take over the lord of the armor, why are you so breathless! ”

Jia Jirong turned around, forgot to salute, and said to Jia Chenggui: "Daddy, it's not that I can't hold my breath, it's that Xu Ping is too deceitful!" He let out his words, if he doesn't send Ah Shen back, he will meet each other! ”

"That's what he said? For the sake of a woman, two countries go to war? ”

"Xu Ping is also a first-class jinshi of the Song Kingdom, a person who reads poetry and books, of course he will not use this excuse. I also saw it in the Song Dynasty, and they posted notices everywhere there, saying that we had robbed the Song Kingdom of how much grain and livestock and how many people we had taken captive, and I was afraid that we would only use this kind of excuse when the time came. ”

When Jia Chenggui heard this, he couldn't help but say angrily: "This kind of thing can be said!" Yes, a few years ago, we went to the Song Dynasty to grab things, but from this year onwards, where is this kind of thing? For this, he didn't fight a few years ago, but he had to fight if we restrained his subordinates! Outrageous! ”

Jia Jirong said helplessly: "Daddy, where is this kind of thing clear?" At the junction of the two countries, it is very clear where I am and where is the Great Song Dynasty, and there are excuses to find them. He even lost a chicken and killed a dog on our heads, and the account cannot be settled. ”

Jia Chenggui said in a deep voice: "Is he determined to fight?" ”

"I didn't say death, but if we want to hand over Ah Shen, I'm afraid it's settled if we don't send anyone back. Daddy, we're really in trouble this time, I also saw it on the road, there have been four or five thousand Song Xiang troops on the opposite side of Jiatong, and the military looks like they are all serious about fighting, how can we fight? ”

"That woman is just a family member of a local official, so important to him?"

"Daddy, I've already said that Ah Shen has a daughter, and she doesn't know anything about Xu Ping. It's not that Ah Shen is important, it's that her daughter can speak in front of Xu Ping, how can she say it clearly when it involves women? ”

Jia Chenggui said in a deep voice: "Anyway, I have already agreed to send Ah Shen to the palace, and the person will be sent to Xu Ping, how can I explain to the saint?" Wait and see, let's take our breath first. (To be continued.) )