The Blood Crown

Yan Sikong set off on another day.

Emperor Zhaowu sent 800 people from the garrison to follow him.In name, it is to escort Zuihong. After all, this horse is a rare treasure worth tens of thousands of gold. There must be some people who don't want Feng Ye to be recruited, which may be detrimental to Yan Sikong.

Yan Sikong's trip was ordered to inspect Qianzhou Prefecture's inspector censor. At the same time, he said that he was not allowed to lead the army when he surrendered the rebels. He begged for the 800 troops from Emperor Zhaowu, and he was only dispatched by him. However, when he arrives in Qianzhou, he will meet the general of the Datong Army stationed in Qianzhou. He has the emperor's secret decree, and the Datong Army will fully cooperate with him to surrender the rebels, but those soldiers and horses are still not his and cannot be used well. The soldiers he can use are these 800 people.

When Yan Sikong rode drunken red and ran out of Yongding Gate, he reined in the reins, looked back at the majestic city wall towering in front of him, and lamented that this is indeed the best city in the world. It suddenly appeared in front of my eyes.

When Huang Chao failed the rankings, he left Chang'an disheartened, turned his head and looked at the capital, and wrote "I will kill all the flowers after they bloom, and the city will be full of golden armor". Many years later, he returned to Chang'an with the rebels. Datang is on the road to destruction.

Thinking of this poem at this time, it is really a bad omen...

Yan Sikong turned around, looked at the boundless sky, and resolutely rode away.

A team of 800 of them were all cavalry, and they traveled lightly and hurriedly, subduing their own rations. They traveled nearly a thousand miles all the way, and it took only thirteen days to arrive.They had to hurry up, and if they waited a little longer, they were afraid that Fengye had already captured Qianzhou.

Qianzhou is located at the junction of Mongolia, Datong and the Central Plains. It is the only natural barrier extending from the Hetao area to the Mongolian plateau. After passing through Qianzhou, there are no mountains and mountains. In the Hetao, it is difficult to gather an effective line of defense.Even though Feng Jianping defeated Oala four years ago and took back part of the cities in the Hetao area from the Mongolian cavalry, the Mongolian stragglers continued to harass them, and they ran away after looting. No one dared to settle here. Not to mention reclamation of farmland, Qianzhou lacked soldiers and horses, and wanted to transfer troops from Datong. It happened that Feng Jianping died unjustly, and Datong's army was cut in half.

However, the purpose of building the cities in the nine counties of Qianzhou is to resist the Mongols outward. The cities facing the Central Plains are mainly used to protect the grain roads and hubs. Both the city walls and the guards are relatively weak. The weakness of thrashing.

If these cities are occupied by Fengye, not only will the grain roads of Qianzhou be cut off, but even Datong Mansion will be affected to some extent. The situation is already very critical.

As soon as Yan Sikong entered the territory of Qianzhou, he received news that Feng Ye had captured Qiaozhou. If Maoren was captured again, Qianzhou would be in danger. However, he suffered an unexpected defeat in Maoren, losing five thousand troops without taking the city.

Maoren, a small town with [-] to [-] people and a garrison force of only [-] to [-] people, actually blocked the [-] troops with high morale from Fengye.

Yan Sikong was very surprised when he heard the news, and hurriedly asked the scouts: "Who is General Maoren?"

"Returning to Lord Yushi, it is General Wang Liewang, but I heard that the one who led the army to defend the city was the magistrate of Maoren County."

"Who is that?" Yan Sikong thought to himself, who is this sacred? A small county magistrate can resist to the death in the face of a large army. What kind of ambition and courage is this, and what kind of courage and wisdom is it? It reminded him of Yuan Mao back then, he must meet this person.

"Back to Mr. Yushi, this person has a great background. He is the No. 29 man in the [-]th consecutive year of Zhaowu, Mr. Shen Hexuan."

Yan Sikong froze and didn't recover for a long time.If he hadn't heard the name again, he would have almost forgotten this person.After Yan Zilian passed away, Xie Zhongren liquidated the faction of the gentry. At the right time, Shen Hexuan wrote a letter scolding the eunuchs. I remember where Shen Hexuan was reprimanded. It turned out that he was in Qianzhou!

It's a pity that such a talented person should be buried as a small official in such a poor place.It's no wonder that this small town can stop Fengye's uprising army.

Yan Sikong ordered: "Pass down the order to set up camp at Yinshi tonight, and arrive at Qianzhou tomorrow."

"Yes!"

-

Just after noon the next day, Yan Sikong arrived in Qianzhou City, and the military officer in the city came out to greet him. Princess Wanyang's son-in-law, the celebrity in front of the emperor, is now burdened with the important task of bringing down the little wolf king, so it can't be sloppy.

As soon as they met, Xu Yong, the prefect of Qianzhou, praised Yan Sikong's righteous deed of impeaching the eunuch party, and then he couldn't help scolding the eunuch party, seemingly filled with righteous indignation. Yan Sikong saw his exaggerated appearance eager to draw a line, He seemed guilty no matter what, but he didn't bother to find out how much he had something to do with the eunuchs, so he was polite on his face.

Being welcomed into the post station, Yan Sikong couldn't wait to ask about Maoren's situation.

If the scouts reported back, Feng Ye had withdrawn his troops and set up camp for thirty miles after Maoren was frustrated. Xu Yong had already inquired about Yan Sikong's situation clearly, but he couldn't figure out the relationship between Yan Sikong and Shen Hexuan, so he cautiously probed: "Master Shen, I heard that he and Lord Yan are Jinshi for one year?"

Yan Sikong nodded: "Brother Shen won three times in a row back then, and his talent shocked the world. My younger brother is only No. 7. Compared with Brother Shen, I am astonished."

"Hey, Mr. Yan is too polite. This imperial examination system has always been criticized for being rigid. How can we judge the merits based on this."

Yan Sikong said: "I don't know how Mr. Shen has been in Maoming these years?"

Xu Yong and the officials of Qianzhou looked at each other, seeming a little embarrassed: "To tell you the truth, Lord Yan, this Lord Shen is extremely talented, well educated and well-educated, it's just this temper, it's really... well, it's really oily. It's smelly and hard, and it has a lot of friction with us."

An official next to him cupped his hands and said: "Although Mr. Shen has a weird temper, since he came, Maoren County has been managed in an orderly manner, with laws and measures, clear rewards and punishments, people live and work in peace and contentment, and don't pick up things on the road. Mr. Shen is really one of the few Good officer."

"Moreover, Mr. Shen is very poor, and the people are well-known."

Xu Yong coughed lightly, followed by Yinghe and said: "This statement is true."

Yan Sikong smiled slightly, thinking to himself, this is indeed Shen Hexuan's character, it seems that although his official career was ruined, he never gave up on himself, he performed his duties in his position, even if he was a county magistrate, he did not disgrace his mission, it is really impressive He was admired by others, he said: "Brother Shen and I are brothers from the same school, and we also served in the Hanlin Academy together. No matter what, I have to go and see him."

"That Feng Ye..."

Yan Sikong's heart trembled, and he paused: "Feng Ye must have known the news of my coming, he wanted to capture Maoren before I arrived in Qianzhou, if he failed, he would retreat and set up camp, before I take any action, He won't move again."

"Master Yan is right."

Yan Sikong stood up and said to Wu Mang, the commander-in-chief of Qianzhou, "Please tell me the situation in Qianzhou truthfully, Mr. Wu."

"Master Yan, please follow me to see the map."

-

In the evening, Xu Yong helped Yan Sikong clean up the dust. Besides him, Wu Mang and other Qianzhou officials, Yu Shenglang, a general with [-] troops seconded from Datong Mansion, was also at the banquet. Discuss the strategy of retreating the enemy and suppressing the rebellion.

After the meal, Yan Sikong showed Zuihong to them, and everyone praised him as a peerless horse.

Yan Sikong drank a glass of wine, his face turned red, and he stroked his drunk red thick mane: "This is my meeting gift for Fengye, it was originally given to Fengye by His Majesty, and he still ...the time of Prince Jingyuan's son."

"There's no general who doesn't love such a horse." Wu Mang sighed, "This meeting gift is really a generous gift."

Yan Sikong said with a smile: "In the past, I did not get along with Feng Ye, and everyone in Beijing knew about it, but I also became close friends and comrades-in-arms with him, and even married his cousin. This horse king of Tianshan is only allowed to be with me. There is no better lobbyist besides me for Feng and Ye to ride."

"Master Yan is right, and His Majesty is even more wise and powerful. Lord Yan has a connection with Fengye, and he has a three-inch tongue when he talks about surrendering to Kuizhou. He is really the best envoy."

Yan Sikong's smile was almost fixed on his face, if you observe carefully, you will find that his smile is not in his eyes, even if he poured two catties of yellow soup today, it still can't dispel his fear of seeing Feng Ye again.

He even...he didn't even know what he would face when he was sent to the camp of the Feng family's army, and whether he would be able to return. The fetters can be clearly explained by the hostile relationship on the surface. What's more, his purpose is not to surrender Fengye, but to make Fengye pretend to surrender and secretly cannibalize the Datong army. How can their ambition stop at a small one? Hetao.

When Feng Ye set out from Hetao and led the army towards the imperial city, he wanted Feng Ye to truly have the power to overthrow a dynasty. Now, he was still far away.

But, could Feng Ye still believe him...