The morning sun in front of it is slowly rising, and the blue sky is decorated with ten thousand rays of glow, and the feeling of warmth makes every pore open comfortably, and I want to melt into the fiery red sun.

Han Daocheng walked out of the valley, raised his head, and breathed greedily towards the rising sun.

After two days and two nights, I finally walked this dark 100-mile mountain road, and when I saw the fiery sun, I felt as if I had gained a new life.

The military envoy Cao Yang led the horse to Han Daocheng's side and whispered: "Commander, there is no one in Taniguchi, and the barbarians haven't noticed us yet!" ”

Han Daocheng looked around and said loudly: "We travel day and night, faster than the barbarians who report the news, they know a fart!" Command to mount the horse, line up, and hold the valley mouth and other military envoys! ”

A trumpet sounded, and the soldiers who had left the valley began to mount their horses and line up a mile away from the valley. Han Daocheng took the lead, and next to him stood the soldiers who were loyal to the banner of the Rui Army.

It only took a little more than a meal to make the Zhongrui army all out of the valley, and they all got on their horses and set up battle formations, facing the Qianlongtong Village on the edge of the Yuanming River less than ten miles ahead.

Cao Yang hit his horse to Han Daocheng's side, crossed his hands and saluted: "Commander, the formation is complete!" ”

Han Daocheng nodded: "Order all the sergeants not to make noise, wait for the order!" ”

Cao Yang promised loudly, went back to pass the military order, ran over again, and whispered: "Commander, the team behind us is far away from us, do you want us to rest and have a meal?" ”

"Shut up! The envoys and other commanders are still marching, and we, as the vanguard, should be on guard for them, so how can we slack off? Go back and defend your men! ”

After Han Daocheng finished speaking, he glanced at Cao Yang.

Cao Yang understood and returned to the team stupidly.

Han Daocheng scolded in his heart, Cao Yang usually looks quite clever, why is he confused at such a critical time? Can you starve to death by eating a meal late? I endured it for two days and two nights.

Ping'an went out of the mountain road, it is the time to show the merits, but you have to eat, do you have nothing to do! Xu Ping is still taking people to climb the road, but you have a meal here, let him come out and bump into him, so is there a good one? Ten credits, not even three points left!

The sun came out, and the industrious peasants came out to work. At this time, the rice has just been harvested, and some have already begun to threh in the open field due to the good weather.

Someone noticed the loyal troops in Taniguchi's array, and there was a lot of discussion. These mountain people don't know who these people are or what they do there. The world of the people in the mountains is this small piece of heaven, and the lord who lives in the village is everything to these people, and as for the outside world, it is another world for them.

In the past, the people here were not under the same sky as the Great Song Dynasty. They also occasionally heard that there was an emperor in a distant place, who lived in the palace of Jinluan, and ate rice every day, and ate oil and meat every day, and wore silk and satin, and walked with shoes, which could not be worn out for a month.

It was a story that was far, far away, as far away as the horizon, like a myth that had been passed down through the ages.

From the moment Han Daocheng's cavalry stepped out of the valley and into this small plain by the Ming River, everything changed.

Qianlongtong Zhizhai Hall, Qianlongtong Zhitong Huang Ping'an had breakfast and was sitting at the table drinking tea.

A family member stumbled in, forgot to salute, and shouted loudly: "Lord, something is wrong, there are soldiers and horses outside, all of them have mounts, and they are still holding knives and guns!" ”

Huang Ping'an was startled, stood up, the teacup in his hand almost fell to the ground, and asked the family who came in in a panic: "Where did the soldiers and horses come from?" Upper Sizhou or Siming? ”

"No, it's from the valley in the northwest, where there is a road to Luobai County. Not only did they have swords and horses, but they also wore armor! It's so scary! ”

"From the direction of Luo Bai? Huang Zhixian also wants to get involved with me moving to Longtong? He's got what it takes! Huang Ping'an listened to Jiading's words and was indignant. It's really a phoenix that falls to the ground is not as good as a chicken, although Qianlongtong was bullied miserably by Shangsizhou and Simingzhou, but there are also one hundred and eighty family soldiers, and Luobai County also wants to come and join in the fun.

"Go and recruit people! Call all the people who can move! I want to see Luo Bai's ability! ”

As he spoke, Huang Ping'an went to fetch the broadsword and bow and arrow hanging on the wall.

The family just saw it from a distance, where did he know who was coming, and after listening to Huang Ping'an's instructions, he turned around and ran to the door.

"Come back!"

When the family heard Huang Ping'an shouting, he ran back and looked at Huang Ping'an inexplicably.

Huang Ping'an stood by the wall, his hand stretched out and he hadn't withdrawn it, tilted his head to look at the family who came back, and asked in a deep voice: "You just said that the person who came not only has a sword and a horse, but also wears armor, are you not mistaken?" ”

"How could the little one be wrong? Those people are wearing clearly not clothes, they are a little dark, and they are still shining in the sun! What is not armor? Didn't the lord say that there was armor beaten with iron? ”

"Iron armor?" Huang Ping'an took a deep breath, withdrew his outstretched hand, and took a few steps back, "My God, how many pairs of iron armor can I buy if I sell Luobai County?" How could this be someone from Luobai County? ”

After being stunned for a while, Huang Ping'an sighed: "No need to ask, the swords and armor are complete, and they are all cavalry, so it must be the soldiers and horses of the imperial court!" Didn't he say that officials from all over the country were summoned on the 25th, but today is only the 11th, so why did the soldiers and horses arrive? ”

Doubts in his heart, Huang Ping'an still instructed the family: "Go and prepare horses for me, and then call all the people with some status in the village, and follow me to meet the soldiers and horses of the imperial court." Oh yes, put another incense case at the door. ”

The family was confused, and he didn't know what the main family meant, but he was just a subordinate, and he couldn't manage so much, so he could only follow the instructions.

Huang Ping'an calmed down and hurriedly turned back to the back office to change his official uniform.

Compared with other local officials, Huang Ping'an has no resistance to the "Bracket Ding Law", not because of how generous he is, but because he has been bullied by Shangsizhou and Siming State in the past few years.

I think that back then, Qianlongtong is also a big place, Taizong used troops on Jiaozhi, and when the army was not conducive to returning, four villages were set up in the Zuojiang area, one of which was Qianlongzhai, and Shangsi Prefecture was still under Qianlongzhai.

It's a pity that the traffic here is really inconvenient, the other three villages, Guwan Village and Taiping Village are on the side of the Zuojiang River, Yongping Village is on the side of the Ming River, and it is not far from the intersection of the Ming River and the Zuojiang River, and the waterway is convenient. Although Qianlongzhai is also on the bank of the Ming River, the shallow waters of the Ming River are dangerous, and only small boats can be passed, and in the dry season, only small sampans can be taken.

The imperial court in Qianlongzhai only has a small military attache with fifty soldiers, and the annual money and food required will be unbearable in the Yongzhou official mansion, how to calculate it can not be worth it, when it comes to Zhenzong, the imperial court soldiers and horses are simply removed, so that Qianlongtong Zhitong is also the Zhizhai.

At the beginning, Qianlongtong took advantage of the righteousness of the imperial court to live a comfortable life, and Shangsizhou also had to honestly provide money and food. Unfortunately, the good days did not last long, as the imperial court's control over the Zuojiang region weakened, Shangsizhou rose rapidly and competed with Qianlongtong for dominance in the middle and upper reaches of the Ming River.

The disaster is not a one-way street, and the imperial court soldiers and horses in Yongping Village have also been reduced to a minimum, not only can they not subdue Siming Prefecture, but they also have to use their strength to subdue other local officials. Simingzhou, who was free-handed, also expanded its power along the Mingjiang River, and together with Shangsizhou, forced Qianlongtong to retreat.

By this time, the area under the actual jurisdiction of Qianlongtong extended more than ten miles upstream and downstream along the Ming River, and the rest were divided between Shangsi Prefecture and Siming Prefecture. If it weren't for the fact that the two states didn't give in to each other, now Qianlongtong wouldn't know which one would have been swallowed into his stomach.

Anyway, sooner or later, this place will not be his own, rather than being divided between Shangsizhou and Simingzhou, it is better to return to the imperial court, and he can at least keep the position of Zhitong, and he can also receive a salary. The local officials with a lot of money and grain don't look at it, and Huang Ping'an's small family is still hot.

After changing the official mansion, Huang Ping'an came to the walled hall, and several of his subordinates were already waiting in the hall.

Looking at the seven or eight so-called official petty officials in soap robes and white robes, Huang Ping'an sighed in his heart, this is all the decent people in Qianlongtong now. Some of the village owners in his team couldn't even mix their own shoes, so they couldn't take them to the stage.

Huang Ping'an straightened his official robe, stepped forward to tell everyone about the situation reported by the family, and then said loudly: "People from the imperial court, we haven't been in the mountains for many years, such a grand event, everyone cheers up." Especially when you meet the officials, you should be careful, don't ask what you shouldn't ask, don't say what you shouldn't say, what Shangguan asks, you think carefully before answering, don't spoil Shangguan's impression of our Qianlongtong. ”

Huang Ping'an has also been to Taipingzhai and Yongzhou, and he is a person who has seen the world, but these people have lived in Qianlongtong all their lives. Those who went to Siming Prefecture or Luobai County to rush through the grass market were considered well-informed, and Shangguan couldn't see or touch them at all, and they didn't know what it was at all, but they just obediently listened to Zhitong's orders.

After the order, Huang Ping'an thought carefully that he had nothing missing, and then led people out of the walled hall.

When I arrived at the gate of the Zhizhai Yamen, I saw several family members hurriedly arranging incense cases, and Huang Ping'an was busy guiding them carefully. It is rare to bring up the big people of the Xitong affair to come to a trip, and how to show grandeur without putting an incense case to greet them.

The group left the Zhizhai Yamen, walked not far out of the village, looked up to the northwest, and saw that a few miles away had been placed in the black pressure of the soldiers and horses.

After this delay, Zhang Rong and the first commander of the township soldiers had already left the valley and set up a position on Han Daocheng's left.

Huang Ping'an took a breath of cold air, how could he have seen this kind of formation in this small place of Qianlongtong, thousands of soldiers and horses were set up, and people were scared to death. And that's not all, there is a steady stream of soldiers coming out of the valley in the back, as if endlessly.

The official officials who followed behind were even more stunned, in their world, it was completely impossible to imagine what kind of big man could bring out such a large army, and it was also a well-trained army with strong horses.

Han Daocheng saw the crowd coming out from a distance, a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, and he shouted loudly: "The barbarians are coming, they all cheer me up and obey orders!" ”

With a trumpet, the whole army was purged, and thousands of people stood silently at the mouth of the valley.

It's just a box army, these people can't be as exaggerated as the family who reported the news said that they all wear iron armor, in fact, only a few officers wear iron armor, and the rest of them are still leather armor.

But that's it, for the barbarians in the mountains, it's no less than a heavenly soldier.

(Note: Yongping Village in the Song Dynasty had two places, which were located in Siming Prefecture in the early stage, and later this village was destroyed due to war.) When Shenzong re-established Yongping Village, the location was changed to the border of Jiaozhi, and the Boyi field of trade with Jiaozhi was in the Yongping Village behind it, and when it was located in Siming Prefecture, the Song Dynasty and Jiaozhi did not trade on land. ）