Chapter 1 The Confusion of Youzhou

On the 9th of November, when Xu Jinghong and his party were still on their way to the north, Wang Chong, who had received instructions from the court for a while, had rushed to Youzhou City with 500 light riding. The journey from southwest to northern Xinjiang is nearly ten thousand miles away, but Wang Chong arrived in just over ten days, because 500 of them hardly rested in any post station, and even slept on horseback.

Because of this, all three horses a day that they originally brought from the southwest have fallen, and now ** have been replaced in a post station more than 100 miles away, and the horse is now a little tired. Wang Chong, who was over 60 years old, was actually sore all over, but in order not to live up to the trust of the court, he still clenched his teeth and survived.

So in such a hurry day and night finally allowed them to arrive at their destination in a short time. When they saw the flag of the State of Song, which was still flying in Youzhou City, everyone's tired faces showed a comforting smile. At least he was not late. This Youzhou City still belongs to the Song Dynasty.

After looking at Wang Junqing, the eldest son who followed him along the way, and the elite of the 500-hunting camp, Wang Chong exhaled and said, "When we go to the city, we will have a difficult struggle with the Hu people here in the future. Are you confident?"

"Yes!" Five hundred people agreed in unison, and their eyes became extremely tough. They believed that with their own ability, they would be able to kill the future criminals under the leadership of the general and save the people of Youzhou City.

And when they came to the suburbs only two or three miles away from Youzhou City, many people showed surprise. In their expectation, there must be a large number of Hu people outside Youzhou City today. Even if the other party's defense is the most sparse, it will take a bloody battle before they can come to the city. But the scene in front of them is very different from what they think. At least in the south of Youzhou City, there is no barbarian.

"What's going on? Could it be that Hu Ren has retreated after attacking Youzhou for a long time? Many people are full of doubts.

But Wang Chong was not too entangled in this issue. With a wave of his hand, he took everyone straight to the gate.

"Who is coming? Report it!" Above the head of the city, a voice of alert sounded as they approached. With this call, more than a dozen archers have leaned down from the wall. Their hands were full bows, and the sharp arrows on them exuded cold air in the sun.

Wang Chong frowned when he saw this situation. And one of the soldiers who followed him said loudly, "We have come to support Youzhou by the order of the court. This is the new commander-in-chief of northern Xinjiang, General Wang Chongwang. Why don't you open the door and welcome us in?"

"General Wang is here?" The general in the city obviously knew the arrangement of the court for a long time, and he was refreshed as soon as he heard this. But then, he said alertly, "There is no evidence. Now is a very special time. Do you have any evidence?"

"Go and send my seal to them." Wang Chong nodded to a personal guard beside him.

The man immediately came to the city and shouted, "You put down the basket, and I will give you the seal of the general."

The archer in the city did not shrink back, but a bamboo basket was still hung from above. The man put the seal into it and let the defenders in the city pull it up. After a long time, the archers at the head of the city withdrew one by one. Just now, the general was very happy and said, " Sure enough, Marshal Wang has arrived. The general's forgiveness is really the responsibility to defend the city, and the last general will demand it so. Open the city and invite Marshal Wang to come in.

With an order, the five-foot-high and three-foot-wide gate slowly opened a passage, but it was enough for two carriages to pass. Then, there was another roar, and the suspension bridge in front of the door was also put down, so that Youzhou City opened the door for Wang Chong and others.

Wang Chong took the lead, and the others followed left and quickly entered Youzhou City. When they came out of the deep gate cave, there were already dozens of soldiers waiting there. A man who was about 40 years old, who looked like more scholars than soldiers, greeted him and saluted him with his fists, "The last general Jiang Zhou has met General Wang." The sound is exactly the guard who answered Wang Chong in the city just now.

"Are you the guard officer of this south gate?" Wang Chong looked up and down at the other party for a while and then asked.

"It's the last general. I just neglected because I didn't know the identity of the general. I hope the general will forgive me." Seeing that there was no smile on Wang Chong's face, Jiang Zhou couldn't help but burst his heart, thinking that the other party was blaming him for not going out of the city to meet him.

"It doesn't matter. I'm not the one who pays attention to false courtesy." After opening his mouth, Wang Chong still swallowed some words, smiled and said, "Please ask Jiang Shoubei to send a few people to lead us to the governor's office."

"Yes, the last general has been rushed to the governor's office to report the news. Presumably by that time, the generals over there already knew about it. Daquan, go with the commander-in-chief. His last words were said to a strong man around him.

Under the guidance of that power, everyone quickly turned from the gate to the street leading to the governor's palace in the city. This Youzhou is also a big city. Its streets are much wider than those in the southwest, and now Wang Chong and others can feel this more in it. Because they only saw three or two people hurried by on the street. Although they were curious about the origin of these knights, they did not mean to stop and watch.

"Great power, what's going on? There are tens of thousands of people in Youzhou City. Why is it so empty now, like an empty city? Wang Chongxing only saw such a few people for a long time, and couldn't help asking strangely.

"Mshal, there is nothing we can do. The generals issued an order that the people in the city should not go out unless necessary, in order to prevent the spy from mixing among the ordinary people and send the information of defense in the city to the barbarians outside the city. In addition, some people left the south gate long before the Hu people launched an attack on Youzhou City. So now it seems that this Youzhou City is particularly lonely. The power is real, and he immediately tells the cause he knows.

When Wang Chong heard this, his frown deepened. However, he knew that he could not say anything to such a pawn, so he just nod to him and continued to concentrate on his way.

After such an hour, all the people came to the vast and extraordinary governor's mansion of Youzhou. At this time, dozens of civil and military officials were waiting there on the empty square in front of the house. As soon as they saw Wang Chong waiting for his arrival, they took a few steps to welcome him: "Is it General Wang Chong? You are here, but you are looking forward to it!" Speaking for everyone, he was a 50-year-old and extraordinary civil official, but Geng He, the governor of Youzhou.

Wang Chong and Zhi also took photos in the capital. As he got off his horse, he replied with a smile, "Lord Geng is really polite. I was just temporarily appointed as the commander of the north by the court. I really can't be so loved by everyone."

"The general's words are too modest. Your status in my Song army is second to none. Just killing the barbarians last time is enough for me to admire the younger generation." A red-faced man also came out and said. He looked less than 40, but the calmness on his body was still very eye-catching.

"Who is this?" Wang Chong looked at the man and asked Geng He, and he only recognized the governor here.

Geng He said to Wang Chong with a smile: "This general is Du Qianjun, a famous brave general in the north. He has had a record of 100 horses breaking into the enemy's 5,000 battalion and returning peacefully. He is really the first brave general in my northern army. By the way, he is the governor of my Northern Army.

Listen to the voice, Wang Chong could easily hear his evaluation of Du Qianjun from the two brave words that the other party said in a row. It was just a reckless man. But he did not say anything about this, but just saluted the general, who was obviously in the same position as Geng He in the city. Later, he met many other civil and military officials one by one. Although he couldn't remember the names and appearances of so many people for a while, Wang Chong dealt with it quite well and made people unable to find any problems.

It was not until all the people were introduced that Geng He patted his forehead like a dream and said, "Looking at my memory, it's really rude to leave the commander in front of the door and say so much. The marshal, please come to the house, and the banquet has been prepared for the marshal. In addition, you can also go to the barracks in front of the governor's mansion to rest, where wine and dishes are also prepared.

For such a thoughtful arrangement, it is naturally very good at ordinary times, and Wang Chong will only appreciate it. But today he came to Youzhou not to meet a few people, eat and drink, but to do more important things, so in the face of such an arrangement, he couldn't help waving his hand: "Lord Geng, now the situation does not allow us to drink and talk about the feelings of the past, right?"

"Oh? The commander-in-chief meant..." Geng He was stunned, but he didn't expect that his arrangement made the new commander-in-chief feel unhappy and uncomfortable.

"Now the most important thing is to keep the security of Youzhou City, so I want to take a look at the walls first. I don't know where the Hu people are now. Wang Chong did not take into account the other party's ideas and quickly put forward his own opinions.

"It turned out that the general was tired from afar and needed to have a good life and nourishment, so he prepared wine and dishes. The general is so dedicated to the public that the subordinates and others really admire him. In this case, the general, please go to the West and North cities for a look. Geng He quickly adjusted his mentality and said with a smile, and then winked at an official around him.

The man immediately said, "Xiaguan Zhou Qun is the magistrate of Youzhou. Let the subordinate take the general to those two places to see what's going on."

"I will also accompany the marshal to take a look on both sides." Du Qianjun's loud voice also sounded: "Military, our generals know it clearly. It's more convenient for the general to ask anything."

"It's so good. Let's go with the two generals." Geng He took a look at Du Qianjun and then nodded.

In this way, Wang Chong, accompanied by more than a dozen of his own soldiers, led Du Qianjun to the walls on both sides of the west and north. As for the other people, they were ordered by him to rest in the barracks. They were too tired to run all the way, and there were not too many people to accompany them to the city.

Du and Tuesday people led the way, and Wang Chong distanced themselves from them. At this time, Wang Junqing whispered to his father, "Mshal, I think there is a big gap between literature and martial arts in this city. There is a certain contradiction between the governor Geng and Du Qianjun, and he wants to compete in front of the general.

"I can also see that the discord between literature and martial arts is inevitable, but I don't know where they have reached. If there is a problem with the city defense, it should be too bad. Wang Chong nodded and said, "Let's judge after looking at the situation over there. Now that we are new here, we don't know the mystery yet.

With his words, the crowd quickly arrived under the wall of the West City. Wang Chong and the others climbed up the stairs to the head of the city and saw small mushroom-like tents outside the city for several miles. This is the unique camp of the Hu people. Each of them brought tents and other things with them. Once they arrived at the station, they would quickly set up so many dense tents.

At this time, looking down from the city, the Hu people walked back and forth in their camps, as if there was no tension on the territory of his country, and looked as if they were living on their own grassland.

"General Du..." Wang Chong couldn't stand it anymore when he saw this scene and greeted Du Qianjun.

"What's the commander-in-chief's order?" Du Qianjun immediately came forward and asked respectfully.

"What's going on?" Wang Chong pointed to the very leisurely man in the city.

"Isn't this... the Hu people stationed under the city?" Du Qianjun replied with some confusedness.

"I am asking you, why are the Hu people so leisurely stationed a few miles away from my city? Didn't my Song army suddenly attack them? Wang Chong's tone was already a little bad, because he couldn't stand such a situation appearing in the army under his leadership.

"This..." Du Qianjun suddenly became a little speechy. He is also a well-known soldier. Although Geng He only mentioned his courage when introducing him, in fact, which general who can achieve the high position of governor is brave and resourceless? He knew the benefits for the Hu people, but there was nothing he could do about it. Now Wang Chong questioned himself, and he didn't know what to say.

"The general doesn't know that it's really because of the human power. If we send troops rashly, we will only increase casualties, so we didn't go out of the city to attack the enemy." At this time, Zhou Qun came to round up his point.

Wang Chong listened to the explanation and did not ask anything else, but his worries in his eyes deepened a lot. After looking at the defense on the West City, Wang Chong's mood calmed down a little. Fortunately, the defense here is much stronger than the South City. Not only is a sergeant with various weapons on alert every three steps, but also all kinds of equipment for defending the city are placed where they should be. From this point of view, at least in terms of defense, the defenders in the city are still qualified.

Then, Wang Chong rushed to the North City, where the situation was obviously more dangerous than the West City. Because there were more barbarians outside the city, and from time to time several barbarians came to the moat and shot a few sporadic arrows, making the defenders on the city confused, and then retreated back with laughter.

Seeing this scene, Wang Chong's heart was even heavier. Whoever saw this completely passive beating would be very dissatisfied. What's more, he had just killed the barbarians in the southwest? However, after careful observation and inference, Wang Chong has seen that the atmosphere in the city today is very wrong. Not to mention the opposition between civil and martial arts, there seems to be a problem with the relationship between some generals, which should be the root cause of Song Jun's passiveness.

With full of doubts and dissatisfaction, Wang Chong returned to the governor's mansion in the city. This time, he walked directly through the gate without waiting for Geng He to pick him up.

Geng He still greeted him again: "Mshal, this wine and dish have been prepared for a long time. Do you think it is..."

"No hurry, no hurry." Wang Chong looked at the completely dark sky, but still waved his hand and said, "I still want to see Brother Peng first. I don't know how his injury is."

Geng He nodded repeatedly when he heard what he said: "What Wang Shuai said was that the subordinate was negligent. Fortunately, Peng Shuai is in this house, so let the subordinate lead you forward. Please--" and reach out to guide.

Wang Chong nod his head and walked across the courtyard to the east, where Peng Ziming, the former commander of the Northern Border Army of the Song Dynasty, lived. Although he has now been deprived of his official position due to injury, these subordinates do not dare to neglect him.

Entering his bedroom, Wang Chong smelled a very heavy smell of medicine. He sighed and came to Peng Ziming's bed lying. Looking at **'s old friend who has changed his appearance, Wang Chong's heart was even more painful. It turned out that Peng Ziming, who was strong and looked like a black bear, had become very weak, especially his gray hair, which showed that he was no longer young.

Even if Wang rushed to him, Peng Ziming, who was asleep, did not have any reaction. If it hadn't been for his chest, he would have been treated as a corpse.

"How was my brother Peng injured and where was he injured?" Wang Chong asked after looking at his old friend for a long time.

"Peng Shuai was supposed to visit the border gate, but he didn't expect that the barbarians would come at that time. The general was injured by the enemy because there were not enough people around him. His wound was on the left chest, which was penetrated by a wolf tooth arrow. If it hadn't been for the blessing of the general, I'm afraid..." Geng He made a brief introduction.

Wang Chong nodded slightly, sighed and said, "What did the military doctor say?"

"The injury is too serious. It depends on Peng Shuai's own willpower to survive this. It's okay if you can survive, otherwise..."

Wang Chong was sad and went out of the courtyard to have a banquet with the officials, but because his interest was really not high, the banquet was soon over.

After everyone dispersed, Wang Junqing came to Wang Chong and frowned and said, "Marshal, I found a lot of strange things today. There seems to be something hidden in Youzhou."

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The new volume starts, I'm sorry for being late