"So that's it!" Zhou Ping asked after hearing this: "Then what is Brother Yue's role among the warriors?" "He's just the leader of the team." Yue Fei's face turned red when he heard Zhou Ping's question. "Yeah!" Zhou Ping nodded, secretly happy in his heart. The worse Yue Fei got under Liu Kai, the less difficult it would be for him to poach people. Thinking of this, he called someone to give some instructions. After a while, the person brought five bolts of silk. Zhou Ping pointed at the silk and said, "Brother Yue has married a daughter-in-law. These bolts of silk can be regarded as Brother Yu's congratulations. I also hope that Yue Brother, take it!" When Yue Fei was about to refuse, Zhou Ping put the silk cloth in his arms and said with a smile: "If I had known that Brother Yue was married, Brother Yu would never have given in like this. If Brother Yue didn't accept it, Do you think this gift is too light?" After hearing what Zhou Ping said, Yue Fei couldn't refuse, so he had to hand over the silk cloth and murmured his thanks. Zhou Ping asked him to sit down and said with a smile: "I thought you were still in your hometown, but I didn't expect to meet you here, so Liang Yu's trip was in vain." Yue Fei stood up and replied: "I heard what the military leader said. ¡ª¡ª¡± Seeing Yue Fei¡¯s restraint, Zhou Ping frowned and interrupted him: ¡°What¡¯s wrong with being a commander or a lieutenant? A certain family just followed Commander Xuan to the south of the Yangtze River and moved a few levels higher than Yue Fei. Brother, you are just like me. If you make great achievements and become superior to me, will you ask me to kowtow in front of you? " "Where do you start talking about this?" Yue Fei saw that Zhou Ping was angry. He quickly stood up to explain, but was pushed back to his seat by Zhou Ping: "You and I also fought against thieves together, and today we are just talking about old friendship. Regardless of official rank, you and I just treat each other as brothers!" Yue Fei Seeing Zhou Ping does not seem to be a fake. He had no choice but to sit down again, cupped his hands and said, "That little brother has gone overboard!" The two chatted for a while, and Yue Fei remembered what Xue Liangwu had just said on the road, "Let the fourth brother go to your hometown to find you." He asked carefully: "Just now, I heard from Brother Zhou that you asked Shiro to go to my hometown to look for me. Is there something wrong? "That's right! "Yue Fei saw that he had entered the main topic, and smiled and said: "I don't hide it from brother Yue. This time I came to Zhending Mansion because I received a secret order from Commander Xuan to go to Yingzhou to do a big thing. Dear brother, you are so talented. It's rare in the world. It's definitely not a fate of old age and death, digging mud all your life. I asked Mr. Xue to go to your hometown just to ask my dear brother to help me. I didn't expect that I met you in Zhending Mansion. It was indeed God's decision. fate! "Thank you very much for your kindness, Brother Zhou, but I'm already serving as an errand under Commander Liu of Zhending Mansion -" Yue Fei was about to refuse instinctively. Zhou Ping smiled, waved his hand, and said, "You don't have to worry about this, I came with a Xuan Shuai's document wants to recruit a group of useful people among the brave warriors. He has already told Liu Shijun, and he will just let him know when the time comes. With your ability, it is really unfair to be the leader of the team. When you come under my command, you don¡¯t dare to say anything else. When you come back from Yingzhou this time, there will be no problem with Baoyi Lang or anything like that. " Yue Fei couldn't help but be overjoyed after hearing this, and was about to stand up to say thank you to Zhou Ping. There was a burst of noise outside, and before the two of them could figure out what was going on, they heard a loud voice shouting: "What are you doing, Lord Bird Commander? Where is my eldest brother in prison? Come and deliver it to you, Uncle Niu, otherwise even the officials will eat me! " Zhou Ping was stunned for a moment, and then he heard someone shouting loudly from outside: "Stop that guy quickly. If he collides with the military leader, everyone will be subject to military law! " In the midst of the chaos, Zhou Ping heard the thunder outside and hurriedly got up and walked outside. Yue Fei also picked up a nearby whistle stick and followed behind. When the two came out, they saw a big black man. With his upper body exposed, he held an iron rod in his hand and rushed in. Several guards gathered around him. The big black man's arms were so strong that he couldn't hold the iron rod tightly. "What the hell is going on here." What's going on? "Zhou Ping's face immediately darkened, and Kong Yanzhou, who was on duty at the side, apologized profusely and said, "I don't know why this rude man is here? He shouted that we had detained his eldest brother and fought all the way in. The brothers wanted to avoid exposing their whereabouts, so¡ª¡ª" "That's it! "When Zhou Ping heard this, he already understood what Kong Yanzhou meant. It turned out that Zhou Ping considered that the Liao-Song War was imminent. Zhending Mansion was close to the front line and there were many merchants from the north. There must be many Khitan informants, so he He and his subordinates all dressed up as ordinary merchants, and lived next to the post house to prevent leaks. Naturally, the defense was not as good as the barracks, but they didn¡¯t want to be beaten all the way in by this reckless man. ¡°Niu Gao, stop it! "Yue Fei, who was behind him, had already seen clearly that the person coming was Niu Gao. He shouted loudly and bowed his thanks to Zhou Ping: "This is my brother in the army. He must have mistakenly thought that Brother Zhou was not good for me, so he still Please forgive me, brother! Over there, Niu Gao saw Yue Fei thanking Zhou Ping, stopped his hand and shouted: "Who are you to be so trusting that you let my brother bow to you?" ¡± At this time, Xue Liangwu had already rushed out with more than a dozen guards after hearing the news. The strong bow in his hand was full, and he surrounded Niu Gao. Seeing that as long as Zhou Ping nodded, the black man would be shot into a hedgehog. Yue Fei was shocked and was about to beg again. Zhou Ping pressed his hand, motioned for his men to put down their bows, and asked in a cold voice: "Pengju is an old acquaintance of this officer, who are you, dare to rush into my residence?" Yue Fei hurriedly stepped forward and pushed Niu Gao down. On the ground, he shouted: "Why don't you apologize to the military leader!" Zhou Ping watched Yue Fei half-forced Niu Gao to kowtow to him twice. After he stood up, he still stared at him with an unconvinced look, so he said to Yue Fei : "Brother Yue, that matter has been settled. Come to my place tomorrow. We will set off as soon as everyone is gathered!" Seven days later. Night has fallen deeply, dyeing everything black. Dozens of carriages and horses were walking slowly along the official road beside Baigou. As the boundary river between Song and Liao countries, this area should have been full of rivers, lakes, swamps, and dense woods. These obstacles were both Some are naturally occurring, and some are artificially created by the defenders in the early Northern Song Dynasty. Their purpose was to resist the Khitan cavalry in the north. But with the advent of peace between the two countries, swamps and lakes were gradually filled up and turned into fertile farmland, while dense artificial forests were cut down, leaving patches of easy-to-pass open roads. When the war came to this land again, except for a few east-west rivers such as Baigou, this land was already very suitable for the passage of iron cavalry. Niu Gao was wearing a robe made of old sheepskin and a pointed leather hat on his head, sitting precariously on the carriage frame. This kind of clothing is very common among livestock traders who travel between the Liao and Song Dynasties. Compared with the cloth clothes commonly worn by the Han people, this kind of sheepskin jacket is much stronger and more durable. Every year, many traders sell medicinal materials and tea leaves from the Song Dynasty. , salt went to the Liao Kingdom, and was exchanged for copperware, livestock, and furs from the Liao Kingdom. Such traders are usually tough men who never hesitate to sacrifice their lives to strive for higher profits. "Stop!" Following a low command, the motorcade slowly stopped. Both the driver and the guard got out of the car in an orderly manner, drinking and eating in silence. If you spoke loudly, you would be whipped, if you lit a fire, you would be punished with a military stick, and if you ran around, you would simply have your head chopped off. In this strange convoy, Everything is simple and clear. Niugao took a hard bite of the dry food, and there was a special smell coming from all around. It was a mixture of the stench of the burned villages and the swamp. Although the war has not officially begun yet, both the Song and Liao sides on both sides of Baigou are preparing for the war. The first thing to do is to strengthen the walls and clear the country in the middle area. Since I can't control it, I will simply destroy it to avoid the consequences. used by the enemy. He snorted. The smell around him made him lose his appetite for food. He took two tasteless bites and stuffed the remaining dry food into his backpack. A water bag stretched out from the side. Niu Gao raised his head and could see Yue Fei's face. "Come on, drink some water and eat more. After Baigou, it's the territory of the Khitans. I'm afraid I won't be able to sit down and eat and drink comfortably like this!" Niu Gao didn't say anything. He took the water bag and took a sip. After taking two mouthfuls of dry food, he could no longer hold back his temper and asked in a low voice: "Brother, where is this Commander Zhou going?" "Shh!" Yue Fei stopped Niu Gao's words and looked around. , whispered: "This is not what we should know, soldiers just follow the general!" Obviously Niu Gao was not satisfied with the other party's answer, but he still lowered his head. A few minutes later, with a whistle, people stood up and the convoy began to move forward again. At the front of the convoy, Zhou Ping advanced slowly under the protection of six or seven cavalry. About twenty steps in front of him was Liu Sheng, who was serving as a guide. The father of this old smuggler started to engage in this business. The biological mother of several brothers is also a Khitan. Liu Sheng was staggering on his horse, as if he would fall off the horse at any time, but Zhou Ping was even more worried that he and the horse would fall into a deep ditch and break his neck. The sky was really dark, and under the dark clouds Under the cover, there were not even a few stars. If it weren't for the sound of running water in the river, Zhou Ping wouldn't even be sure that he was next to Baigou. "Hu-" With a prolonged reining sound, Liu Sheng pulled the reins, jumped off the horse and walked a few steps forward. After groping for a while, he turned around and came to Zhou Ping's side and whispered: "General, cross the river. We're here, just a dozen steps ahead!" "Can you confirm?" Zhou Ping looked at Liu Sheng with some suspicion. He couldn't even tell whether the black figure a dozen steps away was a tree or a person. How did Liu Sheng determine that the scheduled crossing point was achieved?