Promotion Letter for the Chief Executive

After hearing Qi Tao's story, Ping'an's previous suspicions about Zhao Xuan were dispelled a lot.Because since the Xinzhou Army and Xu You have such a grudge, now that Xu You is still alive, even after 20 years, there must still be people who remember it.In this way, it is unlikely to be controlled by Zhao Xuan.

It stands to reason that it is difficult for other people to reach out to the army controlled by the emperor.Unless it is someone who has won the emperor's trust.

Ping An immediately thought of four, five, six or three princes.After all, according to what Zhao Can said, they are the emperor's most beloved sons.

It should not be the fifth prince.Ever since Ping An knew that the Liu family belonged to the fifth prince, he didn't pay much attention to him.At such a critical time, all he could see was Qinzhou's petty gains. He wanted to compete with Ping An, but the most important thing was that he hadn't won yet—his foresight and ability were nothing more than that. There is no need to fear it.

The sixth prince, Ping An, didn't seem to understand either, and only the fourth prince was left.This person seemed to have extended his hand in Liu Meiren's affairs last time.

Pingan thought for a while and asked, "What about the Qizhou Army?"

"The generals of the Qizhou Army climbed up from the bottom, and it seems that they got closer to the Minister of the Ministry of War before they gained a firm foothold." Qian Cheng said immediately.Knowing that there is going to be a war, Huang Chengsi has worked hard here.Especially Feng Yutang's people, most of the news came from him.

Minister of the Ministry of War is an old man. It is said that he once served in Qizhou. When he was young, he was a figure who could roll up his sleeves and go to the battlefield. Although he was a scholar, his martial arts skills were very extraordinary.During his tenure, he once suppressed and beat the Xirong people, and it is said that he created several formations. He is a veteran minister who really knows about military affairs. He has gone through two dynasties and is also relied on by the emperor.

It doesn't seem to have anything to do with the other princes.

Inferred here, it seems that it can't go on.Except that the Zhuozhou Army must have something to do with Zhao Rong, the other two routes at least seem innocent on the surface.Even if Ping An suspects that there is a conspiracy behind this incident, but can't find any traces, he can only shelve it.

Anyway, it's done now, even if we find out the problem behind it, it won't help.So in the end, he could only confess that Qian Cheng would continue to let people keep an eye on this matter.

Then the topic turned to Feng Yutang.

"I don't know where Yutang went with the supplies." Qian Cheng said.

Ping An looked at the map, "calculating the time, we should enter the grassland." He looked at the heavy snow falling outside the window, and couldn't help frowning, "The weather is so bad, I don't know if we can still walk on the road."

"That's right," Xu Wenmei said, "I'm afraid this road will not be peaceful, he only has so many people in his hands, if he encounters a small team from Xirong, it may be bad."

In fact, Feng Yutang's current situation is indeed very bad.

The crisis did not come from the Xirong people, but from within the team.Although the people who were brought out this time were hard-working relatives, the weather was really bad.Since they left Qinzhou City, it was already the third snowfall.The snow is as thick as knees on the road where there are almost no people walking. Let alone people, it is very difficult for cars to walk over.

What's worse is that no matter how warm they are, some people in the team still have frostbitten legs and feet. Even the livestock pulling the carts can hardly adapt to the severe cold weather, and it is getting harder and harder to walk.

Especially after entering the grassland, there is no house to rest at night, so they can only camp in the wild.The cars were unloaded and put together to barely create a place to shelter from the wind and snow. People and livestock were surrounded inside, huddled together for warmth, and survived every night with difficulty.

Feng Yutang turned his head and glanced at the team behind him worriedly. Most of the people had already lost the vigor and spirit they had when they came here. They were walking in the snow with tired faces, as if they would fall down in the next moment. Can't get up either.

More than 120 people came out, and a dozen of them couldn't keep up with the team and were placed in post stations along the road.However, they have only gone half way, and now they have entered the grassland again, and the road ahead will only be more difficult.And maybe you will meet the Xirong people, how can you defeat them just by relying on these people?

In the second half of the afternoon, snowflakes flew in the sky again.

The snow here is not the kind of large flakes, fluttering snowflakes, but thin and white like crushed salt, sprinkled from the sky.The northwest wind roared non-stop, rolling up the unfrozen snow that had just fallen to the ground, and flying in the air overwhelmingly.

The wind made people's faces ache, and they could barely open their eyes, so they could only squint and try hard to see.However, the range of sight became blurred, and he could only see clearly a very limited distance ahead.In such weather, it is almost impossible to discern the direction.

Feng Yutang hesitated for a moment, feeling that the weather was not suitable for continuing on the road, so he had to order everyone to stop.Fortunately, there happened to be a small valley nearby, leeward to the wind, parked the carriage there, and blocked the entrance of the valley, it was a temporary camp.

There is no fire in this weather, so I can only swallow the dry food with difficulty in the snow.

Feng Yutang sent people to search the valley, but there was nothing but white snow everywhere.But if you stay like this, you can easily become frozen.Fortunately, what they transported was grain and grass, and there was no shortage of food.He simply asked everyone to shovel snow in the valley, and when they moved their bodies, it was not so cold.

After a while, the person Feng Yutang sent to guard outside suddenly came back, and hurriedly said, "My lord, there are some Western soldiers outside!"

Feng Yutang's face immediately became serious, "Where is the man?"

"He's coming towards the valley! I guess he saw our carriage." That human said.When they saw the cavalry approaching from a distance, they naturally didn't dare to stay there, otherwise they would be adding food to others.

Feng Yutang frowned, picked up his own bow and arrow, and led people out, "Take the guy out to have a look."

When we arrived at the place where the carriage was parked, there were indeed three soldiers from the West riding on horseback, pointing their way.Without hesitation, Feng Yutang bent his bow and set his arrow, and began to aim.Seeing this, the others quickly followed suit.With a few swishing sounds, the three of them were shot by arrows.Although more failed.Others aimed at the horse because they were not good at aiming.

The horse was frightened and started to run wildly, and soon two people were thrown off the horse.Feng Yutang chased after him, aimed at the last man's vest and shot an arrow, and then he could only watch helplessly as he ran farther and farther, unable to catch up.

"My lord, what should I do?" someone asked.

Feng Yutang frowned and watched for a while, then heaved a sigh of relief, "Go back and tie up those two people, and see if they are still alive." Turning around, he saw a horse kneeling in the snow, unable to get up. , and then said, "This one is also tied, and when the snow stops, we will give you another meal!"

If this person escapes, even if he dies, his whereabouts will probably be leaked.They looked like scouts sent by the army, but they didn't know how many people were behind them.

But even if there were not many, as long as a dozen cavalrymen, they could disperse their mob team.What's more, if you can send three scouts, there are at least hundreds of people!Feng Yutang was worried, but he couldn't let others see it, and returned to the valley with the spoils.

The two Western soldiers did not die.However, one person was wounded at a critical point and was already dying, unable to wake up at all.Someone pulled the arrow from his body and flattered him immediately, "My lord's arrow skills are exquisite!" It turned out that this was the person he shot.

It was another, both arrows stuck in the arm.If the horse hadn't been frightened, he might have escaped.

The man was woken up quickly, and Feng Yutang squatted in front of him for interrogation. ——After coming here for a few years, he has already learned the Xirong dialect, and basic conversations are not a problem.

As a result, the information that came out made Feng Yutang very worried.What followed turned out to be a team of thousands of people!Although not all of them are cavalry, for the Xirong people, this scale is not small.

"Why is there a pair of Western soldiers here?" Feng Yutang drew a map on the snow with a wooden stick with a dignified expression, thinking about it.It's long past the time to fight Caogu, and since Da Chu and Xi Rong have been at war for several months, the news must have spread long ago.These 1000 people are not here for no reason.

The greater possibility is that they are just vanguards, and there are still a larger number of main forces behind them!

Although people on the grassland also have their own people, it is even more difficult to pass on news.Therefore, Feng Yutang only found out the news that the Qizhou Army was staggered by the Xirong Army.It stands to reason that other armies should not suddenly appear.After all, there are not many people in Xirong.

So this discovery made Feng Yutang very disturbed.

If you don't consider the origin of these people, if there is such a Xirong army that no one knows about, then what is their purpose?

As long as Feng Yutang thinks about it a little bit, he breaks out in a cold sweat.He himself came from Da Chu's side, and he knew very well that Da Chu's defense was not very tight on this route.

On the one hand, the elite troops were all transferred and entered the grassland.On the other hand, it was also because everyone felt that the Xirong people were restrained in the grassland, and it was impossible for them to appear in the rear.That being the case, there is no need to worry too much.

If these people are allowed to drive straight in, the consequences will be disastrous!

While Feng Yutang was thinking, he unconsciously scribbled on the map with his hand, and then he suddenly noticed a place, which was the head of the Zhuozhou Army's lone army poking deep.

It was originally planned that the three armies would advance side by side, and the entire grassland would be in the alert area. Naturally, it was impossible for Xirong people to pass them and run to the back.However, there was a problem in the middle, the Zhuozhou Army took the lead, and the Xinzhou Army went to support the Qizhou Army, so that there was a large gap in the middle.

These Western soldiers must have come from here!

And continuing to think about this discovery, it is something that Feng Yutang dare not touch at present: Why did the Xirong people prepare such a surprise soldier to ambush here?How did they know about Da Chu's arrangement, and how did they properly use the gap?

Originally, Da Chu's behavior was to "surprise" and gain the advantage as quickly as possible.But now it seems that Xirong is clearly prepared!If this is the case, is it... Someone from Da Chu colluded with Xi Rong and leaked the news?

"My lord?" Seeing that Feng Yutang's brows were getting tighter and tighter, and he said nothing, someone became anxious and called him, "How to deal with this Xibing soldier?"

"Kill it." Feng Yutang raised his head with a gloomy expression, "There will be Xirong's army coming later. Our 100 people are not enough for their teeth."

"Then...then what should we do?" Someone immediately panicked.

Although they had a lot of experience in the Imperial City Division, they were usually responsible for trivial or conspiratorial things. After all, it was the first time for these young people to experience a life-threatening war.

In fact, Feng Yutang himself is also.But his experience was more complicated, and his mind was more stable. Although he was shaken by his own deduction, he also understood that it was useless to know these things. The most important thing now was to survive and preserve these food, grass, bows and arrows.

Even if it can't be delivered to the Zhuozhou Army, it can't capitalize on the enemy.

In a flash of thought, he had already made a decision.

He first called three of his cronies, and then began to write letters.There will be troops coming in along the gap, and they have already gone all the way south. If they are not sure, they will break through the defense line and enter the territory of Dachu. Write down the news, together with your own guess, and hand it over to these three people in triplicate. One will go to Xinzhou to find the news. In the northwest governor's yamen, one sent a letter to Ping An, and the other went to the Xinzhou Army trapped in the grassland.Trapped in them is the most likely army to come back.

After sending these three people away, he asked the remaining people to dig a lot of holes in the valley, took out half of the bomb that was safely handed over to him, and buried it.The snow that had been shoveled before was re-paved, trying to make it as original as possible, leaving only the place where the fuze was.

In the end, Feng Yutang asked most of the people to fix up the carts that transported grain and grass, go back along the way they came, bypass a hill they had passed before, and take another road.It is far away from here, even if the army sends scouts, it should not be discovered.

As for himself, he stayed with two people.

Out of trust in Feng Yutang, although these people didn't know what to do, they all followed the instructions.It's just that when they were about to separate, they were still a little dazed and apprehensive.After all, Feng Yutang has great prestige, so he became their backbone.Now that the backbone is leaving, it is naturally disturbing.

"Let's go, the matter here is over, I will go to you." Feng Yutang said.

When all the people left, he took people and made traces in the valley.One of the more astute ones quickly discovered the clue, "My lord, are you trying to make it look like there were troops stationed here?"

"Yes." Feng Yutang didn't explain and continued to work.

When everything was done, he carefully dug a hole with two people and buried himself in the snow.Thanks to the thick snow nearby, otherwise this approach would not be feasible at all.

By this time, nearly two hours had passed since Feng Yutang and the others met the scouts.The furthest the scouts could go was here.So not long after hiding it, the 1000 people's mistakes came here.

It turns out their luck wasn't so bad.Because the escaped scout was shot by an arrow in the end, dragged back to the main force, and only had time to leave the vague word "valley" before he died.

So the large troops rushed here and entered the valley without hesitation.Because they can see that there are traces of many people staying here.

However, when they entered, the valley was empty.Thinking that the other party had already fled away, these Xi Rong soldiers could only curse bad luck secretly.It was already dark now, and although there was light even at night in the snow, neither the man nor the horse could stand it and needed to rest.

It happened that there was a valley here, and these Western soldiers camped here, preparing to spend the night.

Feng Yutang's patience was very good, he waited until these people were all lying down, and then led the people to light the bomb fuse carefully. ——Ping An really had no confidence in the fuze of this era, and finally came up with a way to soak the fuze in diesel oil before burying it.That way you don't have to worry about burning out.

Because it was in the snow, Feng Yutang also poured a little oil on the places where the bombs were buried to ensure that each one could be ignited.

After finishing it, the three of them will have time to withdraw from the valley and bury themselves in the snowdrift. They only feel the mountains shaking and the ground shaking, and the earth-shattering explosion sounded behind them.

Of course, no matter how powerful the bomb is, it is impossible to kill everyone.In fact, most of them are still alive, but injured.

But something unprecedented like a bomb made everyone panic. After all, in their minds, such a movement cannot be made by humans, so the sky must be angry.So the people who were still alive, while yelling in panic, found a horse at random, got on it and fled.

Feng Yutang had no intention of pursuing these people.He wanted to turn this matter into a mystery so that the people of Xirong could not find any flaws, so no traces of thinking could be left.

The power of the bomb is not small, and the traces in the valley must have been destroyed, so there is no need for him to do it.As long as these people are gone, and then leave quietly, it will be considered a success.

It's a pity that I don't have enough manpower.Otherwise, you can dig some more traps on the way these people escape, making them think that God is angry and wants to punish them.Maybe if you are scared, you dare not go to Dachu again?

When everyone was gone, the three of them crawled out of the snowdrift, still feeling buzzing in their ears.

There were still some seriously injured and broken arms and legs left in the valley, and there was no way to escape, so they stayed where they were, screaming and moaning.The three of them left here without a sound, and they breathed a sigh of relief until they were far away.

When they got to a safe place, one of them stared straight at Feng Yutang with horror on his face, "My lord, what is that?"

Feng Yutang also couldn't recover.He went back in a hurry, so he didn't see the power of the test bombs, but Ping An explained it to him, and then randomly clicked one to show him.But can a bomb have the same result as a bunch of bombs?So he knew it should be very powerful, but he didn't expect it to be so powerful!

Although they all saw that Ping An handed over the box to Feng Yutang, they didn't know what was inside.When I saw Feng Yutang asking people to dig a hole to bury things before, I didn't know what he was going to do.Now that I see such a great power, I feel reverence and awe in my heart. Fortunately, it is my own thing, and it is the enemy who suffers. Otherwise, who can hide from such a thing?

"It's a secret weapon just discovered by the imperial court." Feng Yutang regained his composure, and said nonsense in a serious manner, "After you go back, you must keep your mouth shut. Otherwise, if more people know about it, the Xirong people will get the news."

"Yes." The two agreed very readily.

The three hurried on their way as fast as they could, and they caught up with the team at dawn.Everyone was very curious about what they were doing, because they heard the sound of the explosion, but they didn't know what they were doing.

But no matter how much they asked, the three of them refused to speak, so they could only give up.

Feng Yutang was thinking about the follow-up of this matter.

The direction of those people's escape was the grassland. Obviously, at a critical moment, they chose to return to a safer place.Soon they'll hit the main force and let the people over there know about the bomb.But they didn't know what the bomb was. Even if they searched in the valley, they couldn't find the slightest trace.

As an ancient person, Feng Yutang knew very well that things that cannot be achieved by manpower and cannot be explained will be attributed to God in the end.Just like the earthquake is considered as a warning and punishment from the heavens, this sudden explosion will definitely make the people of Xirong speculate.If they can't get an answer, they will naturally connect it with the sky.

Maybe it's because God doesn't want them to attack Dachu?

As long as one person thinks this way, this kind of thinking will spread to the entire army.Even if not, suffering such unwarranted disasters and losses would be enough to discourage the enthusiasm of the Xirong people and make them suspicious of the attack.

When people's hearts are scattered, it is naturally difficult for the generals to restrain the people below.

The prairie people are different from Da Chu. Da Chu's army is strictly managed and very regular. ——Because they have military membership, even if they escaped, they could not find a place to live.

But the grassland is so big, it was originally grazing everywhere, living by water and grass, existing in the form of tribes.It's just that the small tribe has to depend on the big tribe to exist.The army is composed of young and middle-aged men drawn from various tribes, and in fact they are not very restrained.If the loss is too great, everyone will consider sneaking home by themselves. Anyway, as long as they move, no one will be able to find them.This big tribe is not good, so go attach to another one.

As long as the hearts of the people are scattered, as long as they encounter resistance when attacking, they are likely to retreat, and the threat will naturally be greatly reduced.

But that is not something Feng Yutang can worry about.