The official road is very easy to find, not only there are stone mills to flatten the land, there are trees planted intermittently on both sides of the road, there are also dark ditches on both sides of the land, close to the county seat or the bustling town of the people, there are gravel as the base covered with loess, paved with cinders, it can last for a while.

Running on such a road, as a military advisor of the Royal Guards, he was quite relieved.

A flat road means it's easy for people to walk, and a thick road is better, which means it's easy for many people to walk. To put it bluntly, that is: to facilitate the march of the army.

In fact, he wasn't worried that military orders wouldn't be delivered. What worries him is that without the supervision of reliable generals, Li Jiantai, a cabinet scholar, can play a role in Zhu Cihong's planning no less than one-tenth of his official position.

Such worries are not unreasonable, and Li Jiantai's return to Shanxi to level thieves is mostly selfish. It is difficult for selfish people to be fearless in performing official duties, and it is not reliable for a person like Li Jiantai who lacks determination to directly confront Li Zicheng's hundreds of thousands of troops.

"We have to find a way to mobilize the forces in Zhending and Baoding, and try our best to block Li Zicheng at Jingcheng Pass...... At the very least, we must buy enough time for the arrival of Your Majesty......" Xu Huanwu thought about things in his heart, and he couldn't feel too tired when he galloped along the way. He was born in the army, and being a military advisor does not mean that he can only write and paint, and in ancient times, when there was a lack of means of communication, it was impossible to know how to ride.

In this way, the horses have been running for a long time, and the group of one person and four horses has changed two or one round of horses.

Looking at the war horse that was replaced and was wet and his eyes blinked, Wei Rong felt pity. As a knight, the war horse is a brother and sister, and until the last moment, no one wants to treat a brother who sits side by side with him to blow up the year.

A group of knights took out their water bags and fed them a little bit, and Xu Huanwu also fed some water, and then led the war horse to the grass next to the road.

Looking at Xu Huanwu's movements, Wei Rong smiled: "It seems that we have been running all the way for so long, and it is still a little slow." I haven't left the capital division yet. ”

A group of knights looked at it, confused.

"Wei Zongqi is really careful." Xu Huanwu glanced at the small trees outside the grass and said, "You can still see the usual tree planting on both sides of the Gyeonggi Road, and there can also be a smooth and solid official road on the Gyeonggi Road, which is obviously still not out of Gyeonggi." I traveled all the way for most of the day, but I never rested on the official road, and I didn't know where I went. Let's get closer, are there any people in our team? ”

Everyone shook their heads.

Zhu Cihong's army came from a variety of sources, and most of the veterans were close to the left of the Beijing division. However, most of them are located on the left side of the capital, not on the edge of Gyeonggi. Later, after the army grew in Shandong and Henan, some locals also joined, but the soldiers who enlisted in Shandong and Henan obviously did not have Hebei. There are also a few recruits from various sources, possibly from the outskirts of Gyeonggi. There are really no recruits who have followed Xu Huanwu as an escort along the way.

"If you don't, you're blind. However, it's been a hundred miles since I've been walking for half a day? A knight was puzzled.

Wei Rong explained: "It seems that we are in a hurry. The speed of the march is still slow. ”

Xu Huanwu just thought about something, but he didn't feel it, shook his head, and said, "In any case, the roads around here are better than those in other places, and there should be a town not far away." It is better for brothers to find a place to rest together than to camp in the wilderness. After all, you won't be able to find such an easy way out of Gyeonggi. ”

"You have to find a post station for the war horse, after all, it is a good horse for the army. These horses rested on the road and could be released back into the barracks when the army passed by. Wei Rong said, and everyone nodded.

As a soldier, I understand how hard it is to march all the way. It is cavalry, and it is rarely ridden all the way unless it is a rapid march. Everyone is not only distressed about the war horse, but also understands how difficult it is to find a good way to go, and they all want to rest while there is still a good road, and then they can deal with the bumpy and tattered road tomorrow.

Every soldier marching in the field had a deep grudge against this.

No matter what else, Wei Rong and Xu Huanwu's carefulness has an effect.

There was still an hour before sunset, and on the way, I came across a crowd of people from various side roads. Some of these people are on the road, some are doing business, and some are rushing to the market.

Xu Huanwu sighed that the local people's livelihood was recovering so quickly, but Wei Rong shouted: "You can rest!" There are people rushing to the market, which means that there is a market town nearby! ”

The crowd cheered, and it wasn't long before they finally saw a town after walking for most of the day.

The scale of this town is not small, and it is very lively to see the hustle and bustle of cars and horses not long after it is close.

As soon as Xu Huanwu entered the town, he faintly felt that something was wrong when he heard the accent inside. I couldn't think of it for a while, so Xu Huanwu found an inn, got off the horse and entered the house, looked for the shopkeeper and asked for drinks and dishes, and asked: "Dare to ask the store, how many miles away from Baoding?" ”

The guest officer asked a clever question. Not to mention anything else, the villain is familiar with Baoding. What do you want to ask, whether it's drinking or having fun or being a businessman, the small one can give you a point to say. Xiao Er served the dishes and drinks on the table, and said with an amiable smile.

"It doesn't have to be anything else. Just ask, how far is it from the boundary of Baoding. Xu Huanwu's heart was relieved, and he asked expectantly.

The little second said again: "The guest officer is asking about the boundary of Baoding Mansion, not Baoding City?" ”

Saying that, Xiao Er's expression was a little strange.

Xu Huanwu nodded slowly: "Hmm." It is to ask the boundaries of Baoding Mansion. ”

Xiao Er carried a towel on his shoulder, coughed lightly, collected his expression, and said, "Guest officer, are you here to make fun of the villain...... From Beijing to Baoding, Dingxing County, which passed by on the way, is Baoding City. Guest officer, did you ask me if I entered Baoding Mansion...... Haha, you must be making fun of me. Guest, please calculate. The three tables of dishes have been served, a total of one or two or three dollars of silver, right? Xiao Er stared at Xu Huanwu with blazing eyes, obviously thinking that Xu Huanwu was a person who came to find fault and eat the overlord's meal.

Hearing the strange taste in his words, Xu Huanwu waved his hand and threw out two taels of silver. When Xiao Er heard this, his vigilance was lifted, and he went happily.

Xu Huanwu looked at Wei Rong and the other knights dumbfounded: "Let's ride a horse for half a day, and we actually went all the way to Baoding Mansion?" ”

The rest of the knights were all babbling.

"Didn't you say you hadn't left Gyeonggi yet? Look at the color on this road, is it only in Gyeonggi? It turned out to be ......"

"This Baoding Mansion is so powerful? Is it as powerful as Gyeonggi? ”

"I'm afraid I shouldn't say that, there must be something urgent that we don't care......"

"The world seems to have changed overnight. I thought that Gyeonggi was well maintained because of the feet of the Son of Heaven. Now I see that Baoding Mansion is also too peaceful......"

"That's not our ......"

……

"Haha, there's a bunch of stupid ones." At this time, a reckless man from another seat shouted: "Since the Wenqu Xing Gu Daguan sent by the Long Live Lord opened the unimpeded Beijing-Baozhou Highway, how many roads are there from this Baoding Mansion to the edge of Gyeonggi?" Not to mention that the fast horse runs for half a day, it is to catch the car, and it is enough for one day......"

"Really?" Xu Huanwu looked surprised: "It's really so fast?" ”

"What are you lying about? Master, I'm also from Zhuozhou, so I didn't walk on the road, and I lied to you? The reckless man was stout, carrying a burden, a pile of goods, obviously a small businessman who went out to do business alone, he looked at a few people who didn't believe it, and said with a dissatisfied face: "Believe it or not, there is one less person on this road, and my business is easy to do!" ”

"That good man, you went out to do business, and you went on the road alone?" Wei Rong said: "Don't need a guard? ”

"What kind of escort do you want for these dozens of miles? But...... Neither is it right...... If you want to get out of this official road, you really need a guard. Can be ...... on official roads Who dares not to give a thumbs up and say long live the big official Gu under the throne? There are Gu officials on this Beijing-Bao Highway, which one dares to make waves? Seeing that Wei Rong was polite and polite, and he was a strong man from the army, the reckless man suddenly spoke speculatively and chattered.

This so-called Gu Daguan is Gu Jiang and Gu Yanwu who were sent to Baoding by Zhu Cihong to preside over the construction of the Beijing-Baozhou Highway. Gu Yanwu, who was given the name by Zhu Cihong, served as the minister of the Qin Mission, and served as the governor of several new yamen. One is the director of the Baoding Police Station, and the other is the Jingbao Highway Bureau, which is responsible for the construction. With the authority to govern along the road, Gu Yanwu took the migrant workers who gathered all the way to do another errand after building the Jingbao Highway: suppressing bandits.

Since the troubled times, there have been countless rebellious homeless people, and there are no kings and emperors, and some have claimed to be strong and hegemonic in the township. After building the road, they regarded the highway built with financial appropriation as their own job, and became the roadblocker who blocked the road and robbed and collected fees.

When Gu Yanwu saw this scene, he didn't laugh angrily, he beckoned a group of coolies who had nothing to do after building the road to be patrols, patrolling along the way, going deep into the townships and counties, and I don't know how many bullies screamed again and again.

With Gu Yanwu, a talented man in the south of the Yangtze River, the Beijing-Baoding Highway suddenly became much more stable, not only the entry of foreign disaster relief materials was smooth, but also the commerce and trade were also rapidly prosperous, and Baoding recovered most of it in just half a year.

"With us Gu Daguan, what kind of guards do you need when you go out...... the reckless man said, carrying the burden away, but before leaving, he left a name: Zhao Dayan, let Wei Rong have time to go to the leatherworker street in Baoding City to have a drink with him.

Listening to Zhao Dayan's words, Wei Rong was embarrassed for a while. He is really a dry guard, isn't Zhao Dayan's words pointing at the monk and scolding the thief? It's just that people are kind, and he really can't have a seizure.

"There are heroes in the land of Yan Zhao, ......" Xu Huanwu sighed, turning the topic away, and the embarrassment dissipated slightly.

Wei Rong followed: "If you want to talk about Haojie, who is the Gu official sent by our Long Live Lord." ”

"It's a pity that I don't have time to meet this senior Gu." Xu Huanwu got up, beckoned everyone to the road, and said, "I have been on the road for a long time, because the road is good, and the footsteps are faster than we imagined." Brothers, good news for everyone. Let's go to Gaolin Village and Town under the nose of Baoding City! As long as we catch up again, we can eat dinner in Baoding today! Brothers, donkey meat, roasted sauce, beef and wine at night are enough! I want the whip of the donkey to be given to you as well. How about it, rushing overnight, do not do it! ”

"It's done!" When everyone heard this, they all felt that the taste was early, and they agreed to come down.

……

Zhending House.

As an important town in Hebei, Baoding is not adjacent to Shanxi. The neighbor of Shanxi Township is actually Zhending Mansion. That is, Changshan Zhending, Zhao Zilong's Zhending.

Zhending Mansion has produced such a heroic figure as Zhao Zilong, and the people have always been strong.

But such a place with strong folk customs is a headache for the officials who govern, and it is even more difficult for the incompetent officials.

For example, Lee Jian-tae, a cabinet scholar stationed in Jindingfu.

Li Jiantai has been in Zhending for almost half a year, as if the whole world has forgotten that there is still a cabinet scholar here. The reason is naturally simple.

Li Jiantai is too low-key.

After arriving at Zhending Mansion, Li Jiantai did not leave the door, lay on the bed, and pretended to be sick for half a year. Of course, it is difficult to say whether Li Jiantai is alive or not after being visited by outsiders.

The low-key Li Jiantai made everyone in the DPRK and China forget, and Li Jiantai, who did not dare to fish because of the fierce customs of the people, also made the local people forget.

But such forgetting, obviously, is not permanent.

Because, there is one person who has not forgotten.

His name is Li Zicheng.

He mentioned hundreds of thousands of soldiers, went out of Taiyuan City in the east, and set off towards Jingcheng Pass, in order to defeat this low-key bachelor who wanted to throw away the bandit errand on his body.

So Li Jiantai finally "recovered." ”

He slowly walked out of the main hall that had not been used for a long time, burned incense for the record, and led the civil and military officials of Zhending Mansion to face the envoy sent by Zhu Cihong and said respectfully: "Weichen Li Jiantai, I respectfully receive the holy order of my emperor......"

Xu Huanwu, who hurried all the way to Zhending Mansion, said with a smile: "In this way, the little envoy is here to wait for the victory of the cabinet department." ”

"Victory...... Li Jiantai's smile stiffened slightly, and he slowly bowed his head: "Borrow the angel's auspicious words ......"

……

Three days later, a procession known as the Ten Thousand Soldiers began to leave the city, and after a quarter of an hour, the gates were calm. Li Jiantai looked at the army of less than 3,000 people behind him, stroked his head, and felt that he was really sick.

……

Moving from Taiyuan Mansion, Li Zicheng's main force began to divide troops before and after passing Yuci.

Li Zicheng, who claims to have 200,000 soldiers and horses, has actually divided his troops into several ways. All the way in northern Shaanxi, led by Li Guo to cross the Yellow River and attack Datong Town and Xuanfu Town in the north with Ren Jirong. The other way is in Henan, where Fu Rugui also fights.

Li Zicheng, who was divided into four routes, arrived here and still divided his troops to attack. The first to break away from the main force was the newly built Imperial Forest Army under his command.

When Li Zicheng's main force passed through Yuci and arrived in Shouyang, Li Yan had already conquered Pingding Prefecture, and the troops reached the Xingu Pass, and the Xingu Pass and Weize Pass were Jingcheng! (To be continued.) )