Looking at Li Bao's hurried away figure, Zhou Ping walked to the bronze mirror and frowned at his figure. Finally, he tore a few holes in his sheepskin jacket before walking outside. By the time Zhou Ping arrived at the entrance of the village, the small group of knights had already arrived under the big locust tree. There were about ten riders. These sturdy and agile knights did not dismount, and watched them walking towards this side with vigilance. people. "It's better to meet by chance than to meet you military masters. It's fate that we meet here. I have some good old Zhendingfu wine in my car. Why don't you come down and have a drink to relieve your fatigue!" Liu Sheng stood in front of the horse with a smile on his face. A familiar look. The few people behind them looked at the cavalry warily, holding their hands tightly on the handles of their swords, as if they were about to fight. "Who are you, and why are you hiding in this village!" The leader of Yuanlanzi was a Khitan man who had become deeply Chinese. He spoke in Chinese proficiently and shouted loudly. At the same time, he raised his right hand and the people behind him The men drew their bows and aimed at Liu Sheng and several people behind him. "We are serious businessmen, businessmen!" Liu Sheng turned around and shouted to the people behind him: "Throw out all the knives quickly, you are seeking death!" Those few people reluctantly pulled out their sabers and threw them away. on the ground. Seeing that they had lowered their weapons, the leader of the Far Block also relaxed a little and made a gesture, and the men behind him also relaxed their bows. "You are lying. You are Han people who want to flee to the south. Those are your luggage!" The leader did not give up. He pointed at several carts not far away and shouted: "Tie them all up and take them away. " "Master, Master!" Liu Sheng smiled and opened his arms: "The car is full of salt. You can go and see if anyone is going south with salt. Besides, you can look at the ruts. "Coming from the south!" The leader snorted coldly, rode to a car, and casually pierced a bag. Sure enough, all that came out was white salt. He asked one of his men to go outside and take a look. After a while, the subordinate came back and answered. He whipped his horse around the carriage twice and suddenly pointed the whip at Liu Sheng's nose. He shouted: "They are not Han people fleeing south. They are also spies from the Southern Dynasty!" "This is such an injustice. How could a spy come with so many carriages!" "There is going to be a war. Where are the merchants coming from?" Spy!" Zhou Ping watched from the side as the voice of Yuan Zhan got louder and louder. But his eyes were moving around. The other Khitan cavalry behind them also looked lazy. He didn't look as guarded as before, his heart moved, and he took a few steps forward with a smile. Walking to the cavalry's horse, he cupped his hands and said, "Young man Han Chang, I have seen this noble man. May I ask how he is called?" The man Yuanlanzi looked Zhou Ping up and down and asked, "Who are you?" Liu Sheng interjected at the side: "This is the villain's boss!" "Oh?" The far man sneered, pointed his riding whip at the surrounding carriages and asked: "So these carriages are all yours?" "That's not the case!" Zhou Ping said with a smile: "What you don't know is that the two families are going to war and the trade route is cut off. Therefore, if the villain can transport this batch of salt, he can sell it at a high price!" These carriages and the goods on them are all jointly owned by five or six shops, so they can take care of each other on the road!" "That's what happened!" After hearing this, Yuanbaizi was already convinced. With other thoughts on his mind, he asked: "Then how much profit can you make by going this way?" "If this trip can go through, the profit will be four to five times at least. I heard that many places in Yingzhou have already eaten light food. It's been half a year." At this point, Zhou Ping lowered his voice and said to Na Yuan: "How much benefit can you get from sending us carriages to the camp? Why don't you just pretend that you haven't seen us? I'm sending it to you." After hearing this, Yuanlanzi was overjoyed and asked, "What do you mean?" Zhou Ping turned around and walked to a carriage, took out a leather bag, returned to Yuanlanzi, and handed it over. past. When Yuanlanzi opened the bag, he saw that it was filled with more than ten silver cakes. A smile immediately appeared on Yuanlanzi's face, he stuffed the money bag into his arms, patted Zhou Ping on the shoulder and said with a smile: "No wonder a sensible person like you can get rich!" "Thank you for your kind words!" Zhou Ping He sang a fat song and said with a smile: "We still have some good wine in the car, why don't a few noble people bring some to quench our thirst on the road." These people from far away are all good drinkers, and a few people who can understand Chinese will Zhou Ping The words were translated to his companions, and the others also had smiles on their faces. Zhou Ping turned around and made a gesture, and four or five people brought wine gourds over. Those who were far away drank a few sips, and they were really honest and honest. They couldn't help but praise them. Zhou Ping also brought some dried meat for them to drink. They were eating and drinking happily, but they didn't realize that Zhou Ping and the other caravan members had walked away unknowingly. "Click!"With a sound, the huge impact of the crossbow bolts fired from twenty divine arm bows at close range sent the person's body flying up. Blood and alcohol were mixed together and flowing on the ground. "Hurry up, it's a spy from the Southern Dynasty!" A man from far away who missed the arrow jumped on his horse and rushed towards the village entrance. It was too late to reload the crossbow arrow on the divine arm bow. Xue Liangyu hurriedly picked up his bow and headed towards the village. Shoot away the fleeing enemy. "Ouch!" A Yuanbaizi who had an arrow in his lower abdomen roared. He drew out his sword and rushed towards Xue Liangyu. In a hurry, Xue Liangyu stepped aside. The arrow had already flown to nowhere. At this time, there was a person next to him. He slashed the injured Liao soldier to the ground with his sword, but it was Zhou Ping who shouted coldly: "Don't let this man go alive!" "Yes!" Xue Liangyu pulled out an arrow from Hu Lu, aimed at the man's vest, and shot , but the far barrier seemed to have an eye on its back. It turned over and got under the horse's belly. The arrow missed and it was about to rush out of the village entrance. At this moment, a man rushed out with a diagonal thrust, picked up a wooden pestle in his hand and hit it on the head. Only a miserable hiss was heard, and the horse's head was hit and it fell to the ground. Unable to dodge the far barrier, his right leg was immediately broken by the mount, and he fainted immediately. "Except for the one whose leg was crushed, the rest of the Khitan people are dead! There are also nine war horses, all of which are good horses." Xue Liangyu bowed and reported to Zhou Ping. His face was still a bit pale, and he did not expect that Among the twenty divine arm bows, one of them actually missed. If it hadn't been for that reckless Niu Gao who rushed out from behind with a diagonal thrust, one of them would have almost escaped. "Well! Let the doctor take a look at him, and keep a good watch on him. Don't let him escape!" Zhou Ping looked at Xue Liangyu and whispered: "That Niu Gao is under your command, so you can decide what to do. I don¡¯t care!¡± Xue Liangyu was stunned when he heard this, and then realized that Zhou Ping wanted to let him decide how to reward his subordinates. He responded and went outside. Looking at Xue Liangyu's back, a smile appeared on Zhou Ping's face. His trip to Yingzhou this time was to "pull a lever" to use the words at the time. Each of the more than 100 people under his command had to be an officer envoy. Of course, these people were either from They followed him in Jeju, or they were carefully selected from tens of thousands of "daring warriors". They are outstanding in martial arts and archery, but being an officer and being a pioneer are two different things. Being an officer is not only about bravery, but , and more importantly, it is necessary to reward and punish subordinates appropriately to win people's hearts. After all, Xue Liangyu is still young and is still a little behind in this aspect, but there are too few people he can trust, so it is better for him to experience some things earlier. Just as he was thinking about it, Li Bao came in from the outside, bowed to Zhou Ping and said, "General, we have searched the bodies of those who are far away. They only have half a day's worth of dry food on them, and their horses have almost lost their fat. "Hmm!" Zhou Ping nodded. Li Bao's meaning was very clear. Obviously these long-distance guards were returned from patrolling, otherwise the horses would not be so thin. Judging from the rations, the Liao army's headquarters should be at most half a day away from here. distance. Zhou Ping thought about it for a while and whispered: "Wait until dark before setting off. Send the order. No fire is allowed. Everyone can only eat cold food. Double whistle at the entrance of the village!" "Here!" Xiongzhou, today's Xiong County, Baoding, Hebei , located in the middle of the North China Plain, was Guiyi County in Youzhou in the Tang Dynasty. In the first year of Tianfu in the later Jin Dynasty (936 AD), Guiyi County entered the Liao Dynasty with the Yanyun Sixteenth Prefecture and belonged to Zhuozhou. In the sixth year of Xiande in the later Zhou Dynasty (959 AD), Zhou Shizong He personally conquered the Liao Dynasty and recaptured Waqiao Pass (today's Nanguan of Xiong County). Waqiao Pass is located on the Yishui River and is an important ferry crossing of the Yishui River. During the Five Dynasties, when the central government with its capital in Bianjing and the separatist regime with its capital in Yanjing clashed, Waqiao Pass was a strategic point for both sides to fight for. After Zhou Shizong captured Waqiao Pass, he added Rongcheng and Guiyi counties together and called it Xiongzhou. It was named for its power to show its martial arts and to deter the Northern Liao Dynasty. On the opposite bank is Guiyi County, north of Zhuozhou in the Liao Kingdom, with Baigou as the boundary. The government office was heavily guarded. Although Tong Guan, the Xuanfu envoy from Hedong and Hebei provinces, and Cai You, the deputy Xuanfu envoy, had not yet left Bianliang, Zhong Shidao, the governor of the Baojing Army who was in charge of the capital, and other generals had not yet left Bianliang. We have already arrived here, preparing for the important event of marching into the army. During this period of time, Zhong Shidao kept hearing all kinds of news from Beijing. Sometimes it was said that he wanted peace, and sometimes he wanted to fight. As a veteran with rich political and military experience, Zhong Shidao's deep heart In fact, he was not willing to rush into a risky and unjust war, but the deep-rooted loyalty to the court in his mind forced him to obey the orders of the commander he despised. In his opinion, After receiving the Jie Yue for a general, one should forget about one's own safety, wealth and other personal interests, and proceed entirely from the interests of the emperor, the court, and the country; how can one "fight for profit" like Tong Guan and plunge the country and the army into a dangerous abyss? middle? But now that the imperial decree has been issued, all he can do is try his best to win. (To be continued, please search Piaotian Literature. The novels will be better and updated faster!