Fenghou

The night sky was clear, and a full moon hung on the dark blue sky. The silver-white moonlight illuminated the earth as if it were daytime. Under the reflection of the snow, there was blue in the white, which was a bit strange and confusing.

The first batch of [-] soldiers ran quickly carrying ladders, followed by [-] soldiers, who were less than a hundred steps away, also speeding up.

The moonlight is too bright, no matter how you hide, you can't hide, as long as you look up, you can see the soldiers on the snow outside.

Since you can't escape, then simply trade speed for time, and get to the top of the city before the enemy's reinforcements arrive. As long as you get to the top of the city, even if the reinforcements arrive, the situation is over. More than 1000 defenders can match your [-] troops contend.

Therefore, the Xizhou Army was not afraid of hearing footsteps above, and ran desperately.

However, the defenders at the top of the city were deaf, and they couldn't hear the footsteps of thousands of people. At first, Tie Mo was very lucky that he was not discovered by the defenders. to react.

"Not good, the enemy is cheating!"

How could the enemy army not be able to hear them? Even if they fell asleep, they would be woken up. Although Tie Mo found out that something was wrong, it was too late.

Before he could yell out, countless soldiers suddenly appeared on the top of the city, with strong crossbows facing the western army and shooting violently. Unfortunately, most of the soldiers didn't hold up their shields. They climbed the ladder with one hand and held a spear with the other. , or take a shield, since it is a sneak attack, it must be a spear.

Suddenly there was a scream on the siege ladder, and countless soldiers were shot and rolled down. Most of the first batch of [-] soldiers were reimbursed, but the second batch of enemy soldiers was very close to each other, and the soldiers on the ladder fell one after another. At that time, the second batch of soldiers had already begun to climb the city.

They reacted very quickly and immediately took the shield from their backs, holding the shield in one hand and the spear in the other, and just supported the skeletons on both sides of the ladder with their arms to stabilize their bodies. They were not affected by the Song army's ambush and continued to attack upwards.

Tie Mo, the enemy general who was about to order the troops to retreat, immediately changed his mind when he saw this scene, and shouted: "The whole army presses up to attack the city!"

Two thousand and five hundred soldiers rushed out shouting, holding up their spears and shields and rushing towards the city wall. This time, Tie Mo rushed to the front. Although the enemy army had an ambush, there were only more than 1000 people. , any tricks are not worth mentioning.

But Tie Mo never thought that the Song Army's ambushes would not be taken out all at once. Since he didn't have the whole army to cover him, how could the Song Army come out in full force.

Another thousand soldiers were squatting at the base of the wall, holding crossbows and nearly a thousand barrels of kerosene, waiting for orders.

You must know that Song Xinping, the chief general of the Song Army, is a veteran who participated in the defense of Jianbai Pass. He has mastered the three secret skills of the Song Army's defense of the city, the broad axe, kerosene and strong crossbow.

Song Xinping saw that another group of ambushing enemy soldiers had already killed them, and immediately shouted: "Axe!"

Fifty axemen, under the protection of their companions, swung their long-handled axes at the rungs of the ladder.

The soldiers of the Xizhou Army have never learned the secret skills of the Song Army's defense of the city. Their ladders are all wooden rungs. In a blink of an eye, three wooden rungs were chopped off, and the ax hand disappeared immediately. , they can't go to the city.

At this time, all the enemy troops rushed to the city wall and shouted under the city. At this moment, buckets of black liquid were suddenly poured down from the top of the city, and even the buckets were thrown down together. The straw, the wooden barrel fell to pieces, and the black kerosene flowed everywhere.

Before the enemy could understand what was going on, hundreds of torches were thrown down, "Boom!" The kerosene was ignited, the straw was ignited, and the city suddenly became a sea of ​​flames.

I don't know how many soldiers were ignited by the fire, and they were so burned that they cried and howled. In the fiery purgatory, thousands of soldiers pushed and trampled each other, scrambling to escape for their lives.

On the top of the city, two thousand soldiers shot arrows together. They managed to escape from the sea of ​​fire, but were shot down by the arrows. The Song army was still throwing oil barrels. Almost all the soldiers were more or less ignited by the fire. Many soldiers The body was covered with flames, running and running, fell to the ground, hesitated for a moment and then stopped moving.

In this battle, Xizhou suffered heavy casualties. Less than 1000 of the 500 soldiers escaped from Dadouba Valley, but in the end they returned to Zhangye City alive. There were less than [-] of them. Even the chief general Tie Mo had all his hair and eyebrows burned off. The injuries were serious and he died a month later.

The Song army captured more than 50 camels, but the casualties were less than [-], which was still the casualties at the beginning of the fierce fighting.

Ten days later, Chen Qing's commendation order arrived at Dadou Bagu. Each person will be rewarded with ten acres of land and ten pieces of silk.

……

In Lin'an, Lu Jin hurried to the back house with a newspaper and found his father who was fishing by the pond and basking in the sun.

Lu Yihao's health was very poor, he was as thin as a child, and several imperial doctors quietly told Lu Jin that he had to consider preparing for the old man's funeral, and it was only a matter of a year or two.

"Da Lang, what are you doing in such a hurry?" Lu Yihao turned his head and glanced at his son dissatisfied.

"Father, look at this newspaper!"

Lu Yihao took the newspaper, 'Huh! ’ said, “What’s the matter, is Jingzhao republished?”

The newspaper in his hand turned out to be the "Beijing News" that was popular in Bianliang, Tokyo back then. The header and font were exactly the same, which really surprised and delighted Lu Yihao.

Before Lu Jin could answer him, he realized something was wrong, and asked with a frown, "Why is it a newspaper from five days ago?"

"Reporting to my father, the "Beijing News" has indeed resumed publication, but it is not republished in Lin'an, but in Jingzhao. This is a newspaper published by Jingzhao five days ago. There was a sensation in the city, and tens of thousands of copies of the newspaper were robbed, and the boy managed to get this one."

"The re-publishing in Jingzhao must be done by Chen Qing!"

"It is said that Yang Tianfang, former chief manager of the Beijing News, ran the newspaper."

Lu Yihao sneered, dissatisfied with his son's political sensitivity.

"Yang Tianfang is just a shopkeeper running errands. The proprietor does not have his turn. If it is his idea, he will definitely run a newspaper in Lin'an. Lin'an is the capital! The capital of "Beijing News" is not the capital of Jingzhao, only Chen Qing Invite him, he can go to Jingzhao to run a newspaper, Chen Qingcai is the proprietor behind it, as for Chen Qing's thoughts, I also know, use this newspaper to increase his reputation."

Lu Jin secretly sighed, although his father's health is not good, but his mind is still so clear, his eyes are still so sharp, old and hot.

"Father is right, the content is indeed related to Chen Qing."

Lu Yihao took the newspaper a little farther away, and squinted his eyes to look at it. The headline on the front page was a very attractive headline, "Fist smashes shame", and the whole side was about how Chen Qing defeated the golden soldiers several times, how he captured countless Wan Jinbing, Wanyan Nianhan, Wanyan Yinshu and other important figures, and then how to force the emperor of the Kingdom of Jin to agree to exchange hostages, exchange Wanyan Nianhan and Wanyan Yinshu with the former emperor and the crown prince, and take them captive as slaves The people of Bianliang came to exchange the Jinbing prisoners of war.

Even though Lu Yihao was in poor health, he no longer read the long article in its entirety, but he was actually attracted by this article, and he read the entire article in less than half an hour.

Lu Jin suddenly noticed old tears glistening in the corners of his grandfather's eyes, and he hurriedly said, "Father, take a break and look at it slowly!"

Lu Yihao put down the newspaper, and said with a choked voice, "I never thought that I, Lu Yihao, would see this day in my lifetime."

After finishing speaking, he burst into tears and sighed endlessly.

Chapter 811 Strange goods

In the study, Prime Minister Qin Hui threw a newspaper on the desk, questioned his nephew Wang Bo and said, "Look at what is written in the newspaper, what is meant by 'crushing shame with fists', the whole article is praising Chen Qingge , if the officials see this newspaper, will you still be able to keep Wusha, the county magistrate?"

On the recommendation of Qin Hui, Wang Bo became the magistrate of Qiantang County in September last year. Qiantang County is Lin'an. He and Chen Qing are old enemies. Chen Qing is already a warlord of the separatist regime. Shun, his ups and downs are all related to women. Now he is in his 30s, a little more mature, and married the daughter of the Lu family, a prominent family in Pingjiang Prefecture.

Wang Bo lowered his head and didn't dare to say anything. He had never seen this newspaper before, so how could he answer his uncle's questioning?

"Nephew knows his mistake!"

"It's not that you can solve the problem every time you say you're wrong. You are the magistrate of the city. This newspaper has been in Lin'an City for two days. At least tens of thousands of copies have been sold, but you don't know anything about it. How can you ask me to help you?" Explain to the officials?"

Qin Hui walked a few steps with his hands behind his back and said: "You put down other things now, and you must find out the transmission route of this newspaper and its printing place for me."

"Didn't my uncle say that this is a newspaper run by Chen Qing? The printing place should be in Jingzhao!"

"fart!"

Qin Hui angrily reprimanded him, staring and said: "Can the newspapers from Jingzhao be transported to Lin'an so quickly from five days ago? They sent the content by Flying Eagle, and it was typeset and printed near Lin'an. They dug out the roots in Lin'an."

"My nephew found out, go and deploy the manpower immediately."

Wang Bo didn't dare to refuse, so he left in a hurry.

Mrs. Wang, who had been sitting by the side without saying a word, drank tea and said slowly: "The officials directly banned this newspaper with the power in their hands, isn't it all right?"

Qin Hui sighed and said: "Cai Jing didn't dare to ban it back then, if I banned it, I would be in big trouble."

Wang said unhurriedly: "Back then, Cai Jing didn't dare to ban "Beijing News" because it had Xiang's backer. Now it's Chen Qing, are you still afraid of him?"

"Madam doesn't know something. I'm not afraid of Chen Qing, but the contents of the newspaper involve the late emperor. If I ban it, Zhao Ding and Li Guang will definitely use this to impeach me for disrespecting the late emperor. My husband can't bear this crime!"

Mrs. Wang nodded, "The official's idea is right, instead of banning it directly, it should be cut from the root, so that it cannot survive in Lin'an, but the official is counting on Bo'er, is he expecting too much from him? ?”

Qin Hui knew that Wang was partial to his nephew, but Wang Bo was the county magistrate of Qiantang, and this was his duty. If he couldn't even do this little thing, what else could he do?

But Qin Hui was really afraid of guilt, although he was dissatisfied, he didn't say anything.

Mrs. Wang glanced at her husband, as if seeing through his mind, and asked again: "Will the officials know about this?"

Qin Hui shook his head, "No one would dare to tell him about this."

"Why?" Wang was puzzled.

Qin Hui smiled wryly and said, "I'll tell you something and you'll know it. Earlier, Zhao Ding and Li Guang strongly advocated resettling Jianghuai immigrants to Jinghu Road. As a result, hundreds of thousands of immigrants ran to Shaanxi Road. I took the opportunity to use This impeaches them both."

"And then?" Mrs. Wang knew about this, and she also wanted to know the result.

"Then the officials scolded the two of them severely, but asked me to solve this matter. How should I solve it?"

Speaking of this, Qin Hui said angrily: "The government has this problem. Whoever brings him a difficult matter, he will let him solve it. Last time I told Chen Qing to negotiate with Jin Guo, he actually asked me to stop it." Negotiations are simply speechless."

Wang said with a smile: "So whoever dares to mention the newspaper will ask someone to close the newspaper, right?"

"That's right. The "Beijing News" was founded by Chen Qing in Jingzhao. How can I close it? If I only care about Lin'an and don't care about Jingzhao, someone will definitely impeach me for deliberately confusing the seriousness and the crime of deceiving the emperor, so I'd better pretend Do not know this."

"But the officials are sure that Zhao Ding and Li Guang will not tell the officials about the newspaper?"

"I wish they would go to the court to report this matter, but they are both old and cunning, and they will never get burned. I know in my heart that no one dares to tell the officials about this matter, even the little eunuchs below."

Wang took a sip of tea and said calmly: "In this case, why did the officials want Boer to solve this matter? If he can solve it, wouldn't he be a prime minister?"

Qin Hui was startled, it turned out that his wife was waiting for him here!

He had no choice but to smile bitterly and said: "He will do his best! If it really can't be solved, I don't blame him."

This is almost the same, Wang's heart is a little satisfied, she is actually worried that her nephew will be killed by Chen Qing's men, Chen Qing's attack is so fierce now, it is not her nephew's tender arm that can stop it.

No one else dared to take care of it, but let his nephew take care of it. This Mr. Qin was really overfed and overfed.

……

The "Beijing News" has been circulated in Lin'an for two days. There has been a whirlwind in Lin'an, causing countless people to follow it.

At noon, Zhao Ding and Li Guang were drinking at Xindongguo Restaurant in Lin'an. The two were sitting by the window on the second floor, drinking and discussing this year's fiscal and tax expenditures. Li Guang was so worried that he couldn't sleep or eat.

He wanted to use the official land as a mortgage to seal the son, but Qin Hui objected, "only gold and silver can be used as mortgages, so there is no reason to use land and houses as mortgages." '

Qin Hui is right, the liquidity of the farmhouse is too poor, it may not be sold, and it is not worthwhile to sell at a discount in the end.

"you do not need to worry!"

Zhao Ding comforted him with a smile and said: "The taxes and taxes in various places have not been paid, so it may not be enough. Also, the hundreds of thousands of people in Jianghuai who fled to Shaanxi Road may not come back. It is possible to plan to resettle them with a million guan. Let’s embezzle it first, and the food can also be cashed in.”

"Hey! I also thought of that money, which should be used first. As for the food, it has to be given to the army and cannot be cashed in."

Just as I was talking, a drinker next door patted the table and said, "The imperial court is a bastard, why didn't the imperial court come forward? Does the imperial court have the face to speak up? What happened to Wanyan Drinking Lisa and Wanyan Qi last year? They're all idiots, don't you know?"

"that is!"

Another drinker said: "The imperial court is a soft bone. They want to negotiate and surrender all day long. They got Wanyan Nianhan and they must use it to negotiate a peace. How dare they ask to return to the first emperor? Only Chen Qing is my Han hero."

A fat drinker chuckled, "You are all wrong, the Son of Heaven must have directly slaughtered Wanyan Nianhan, and then expected Jin Guo to slaughter the first emperor in a fit of anger."

"Shh! Don't talk nonsense."

Li Guang was shocked, and asked in a low voice: "What's going on, they will know that Chen Qing used up Yan Nianhan to replace the former emperor? This is a court secret!"

Zhao Ding gave him a strange look, "Ms. Li doesn't know about the newspaper?"

"What newspaper?" Li Guang asked.

"Naturally it is the "Beijing News"! It has been circulating in Lin'an for a few days, and the whole story of the hostage exchange between Chen Qing and Jin Guo was published on the whole page, which caused a great uproar in Lin'an, and Li Xianggong didn't know about it?"

"I've been worrying about financial and tax expenses for the past two days, and I don't care about other things. I really don't know. The "Beijing News" has resumed publication?"

"It should be republished by Jingzhao. The first batch of newspapers reached Lin'an two days ago, and they were snapped up. The writing is very good. We don't know about many important things. Chen Qing actually has [-] Jurchen prisoners of war in his hands. I didn’t know that Shanzhou and Guozhou were captured by the Western Army, and the border reached Mianchi County.”

Li Guang asked anxiously, "Is the newspaper still available, lend me a read."

Zhao Ding smiled wryly and said: "You are one step late, the dog in my hand wanted to go away, I asked him last night, he said he was borrowed by his colleagues and did not return it."

"Then where else?"

Zhao Ding glanced and found that a table of drinkers at the stairs was reading a newspaper, which seemed to be the "Beijing News". He immediately turned around and whispered a few words to his entourage.

The attendant nodded, walked over quickly, discussed for a while, and came back helplessly: "The man said that the newspaper in his hand was bought for five pennies, and if we want, he can transfer it, but it costs ten pennies. "

"what!"

Li Guang's eyes widened in disbelief, "Ten coins a newspaper, is he crazy?"

A drinker next to him smiled and said, "Old man, that newspaper is really at that price. Just now, someone downstairs sold a copy for ten cents. Several people rushed to ask for it. The shopkeeper can testify."

Li Guang glanced at Zhao Ding again, "You think it's the same price?"

Zhao Ding said lightly: "This is a special issue, it has great collection value, I think it is worth it."

Li Guang suddenly understood that Zhao Ding was using his son as a shield, that the newspaper must still be in his hands and had been kept by him, he just refused to lend it to himself.

Li Guang thought for a while, then took out a small ingot of silver and handed it to his attendant, "Go and buy it!"

Chapter 812 Clues

Wang Bo sat in the hall of the county yamen and yawned long. Last night he spent a night with a few prostitutes, and now he is really tired.

There is a stack of "Beijing News" on the table in front of him, about 1 copies. This is the result of two days of confiscation by his subordinates. More than [-] copies were issued, and only [-] copies were collected. How can he explain to his uncle? ?

Wang Bo was tired, sleepy and irritable, which made him lose his mind for a while.

Standing not far behind him was a middle-aged man with a medium-to-thin build, a rather fair egg face, and a pair of thin triangular eyes. His name was Jia Yingfang, and he was Wang Boqiangu's staff.

He stared at the stack of newspapers on the table, his eyes were eager. In his eyes, it was not twenty newspapers, but two hundred coins, but the dude in front of him didn't know anything.