Standing on Longshan Mountain, you can overlook Liaoxi Fort and the entire place, because Xu Jun's fortress was built on a flat place near the sea. Xiao Siwen faced the wind and looked at the scene in front of him. The sea stretched as far as the horizon. On the gray coast, the Liaoxi Fort lying on the ground seemed to be a pattern engraved on the earth. The sound of the wind was faintly mixed with the noise of the crowd. There are groups of people on the ground one mile away from the Liaoxi Fort. They are all Xi soldiers and Jurchen soldiers, surrounded by ladders. Looking from a high place, they look like groups of ants carrying insects. . At first glance, the crowd doesn't seem to be moving, but after staring for a while, you can see that they are moving closer to Liaoxi Fort. Suddenly, I saw the fire on the fortress flashing, and strings of white smoke coming out! After a while, I heard "bang, rumble" The sound of cannons came from the wind. There was the biggest movement on Liaoxi Fort. There were no battles on the side of Xi Bing and Jurchen soldiers. They only saw a ladder collapse. Thick smoke puffed out from the fortress several times in a row, ladders broke and collapsed in the distance, and the crowd gradually thinned out and spread around, as if they were harassed and frightened. Not long after, almost all the troops retreated away from Liaoxi Fort. Seeing this, Xiao Siwen turned around and left the mountainside, and said to a Khitan man: "There is no need to attack anymore, withdraw your troops! Wait until the afternoon, and then send someone to persuade you to surrender." Yang Gun stepped forward and said: "Mr. Xiao, Xu Jun will not persuade you to surrender like this. Surrender." Xiao Siwen said: "It's okay to try. Tell them that Emperor Xu Guo Tiejiang is dying and can't care about them anymore." Yang Gun muttered: "The person we went to persuade to surrender was killed last time. General Xu Jun here. The attitude is very firm. The general feels that as long as there are military supplies and food supplies, Xu Jun will definitely not surrender There is a canal to the southwest of Liaoxi Fort, which has not yet been completed, but it can already accommodate small boats. We must first find a way to cut it off. Only by blocking Xu Jun's food route from the sea can we force the defender of Liaoxi Fort to surrender. "Xiao Siwen said: "Liaoxi Fort is one mile away from the sea, and the entire section of the canal is within bombardment. How to cut it off?" Yang Gun said: " We have to start from here to find a way." Xiao Siwen snorted and was noncommittal. If he had been surrounding Liaoxi Fort for so long, why would he think of it now? Xiao Siwen said: "I see, you don't have to just focus on that earthen fort. You have to look at the bigger picture. If the Xu people want to build a fort like this to occupy our vast Bohai Sea land (Northeast), it won't be a waste of ten or eight years." It worked! Their strategy was not like this. Otherwise, what would Li Chuyun have done before leading his army to the northwest?" Yang Gun nodded and said, "The Xu people still want to rely on cavalry and expand their territory westward for war horses." That's it. Damn it, if you don't occupy so much land in the south of Xu State, you have to focus on our sacred land." Yang Gun said calmly: "If Blacksmith Guo can't survive the death gate, these threats will not matter. "The two looked at each other. They stopped talking, came down from the mountain, took a group of fine cavalry, and returned to Yingzhou. When they arrived at the Yingzhou Xingyuan, someone immediately said to Xiao Siwen: "Fan Mansion has something important to report." Xiao Siwen looked at a pair of bronze mirrors, straightened his hat and collar first, and said without looking back: "Let him be here Wait in the lobby, I will be here soon." After saying that, he took the hot towel from the attendant, wiped the dust on his face, and smoothed the beard on his lips with his fingers, before heading to the lobby. When they arrived at the hall, they saw Yelu Xiezhen, Yang Gun and Fan Zhongyi already making noise there. Yelu Xiezhen said, "Why did Yang Ye run away?!" After hearing this, Xiao Siwen immediately became very interested in this matter. At this time, someone said: "Master Xiao is here." Everyone put their hands on their chests and bowed. Fan Zhongyi still held his fists and bowed, but said nothing. This was a dumb gesture. Xiao Siwen first sat down firmly in the upper position. No matter what, he still had to pay attention to his demeanor and status at all times. Even General Yelu Xiezhen was a head shorter in front of him. Fan Zhongyi stepped forward and bowed respectfully: "The official received news that on the first day of August, Yang Ye, who was ordered to come to Beijing, suddenly left the capital and ran away. This matter is quite strange." Xiao Siwen asked: "How do you know that he was trying to escape? ?¡± Fan Zhongyi said: ¡°He rented a horse from the carriage and horse shop with only one attendant before he left Beijing. Our people happened to see it, so Xizuo tried to go to the carriage and horse shop to find out. Yang Ye didn¡¯t even have any money when he rented the horse. He took the jade pendant with him and put it in the carriage, which showed that the trip was very hasty. The informants near the city gate also confirmed that Yang Ye left Tokyo in a hurry. In addition, there were three minor officials from Kaifeng Prefecture and Xuzhou Prefecture in the Xu Kingdom. After surviving the investigation, Kaifeng officials reported that Yang Ye's entourage in Tokyo was detained on the first day of August. Xu Guo's government sent a horse out of Beijing to go north, presumably to intercept Yang Ye's three petty officials.He told the scouts outpost, hoping to move his family to live in the Liao Kingdom. "Yel¨¹ Xiezhen said calmly: "Fan Mansion is favored by Duke Xiao and holds an important position. The Khitan nobles are already dissatisfied. " Fan Zhongyi said softly: "Xiao Gong said that as long as he can kill Blacksmith Guo with poison, he will ask the Great Khan to give him the surname Xiao and make him a hereditary noble in Khitan" Xiao Siwen immediately interrupted him and said: "We won't talk until Blacksmith Guo is dead Those few people who stayed in Xu State had great potential, so what was the use of coming to Liao State? " Fan Zhongyi said hurriedly: "What Mr. Xiao and Marshal Yelu said makes sense. However, so many people had been killed a while ago, and they were probably frightened out of their wits. "Fan Zhongyi paused and then said, "On the first day of August, on the day Yang Ye escaped, two other things happened. Governor Xu Zhouduan was convicted of treason and escorted back to Tokyo. The puppet emperor Guo Shao of Xu State was arrested in front of several people. The great court of hundreds of people fainted. Soon after, Luo Yanhuan, the protector of the country, committed suicide in Dali Temple. Guo Shao seemed to have never looked back on the court again, and Da Fu still supervised the country. " Xiao Siwen stroked the soft mink fur ear protectors on his hat and muttered: "That's interesting" Yang Gun said: "Could it be that Yang Ye also colluded with Zhou Duan and escaped temporarily after learning that Zhou Duan had been convicted of a serious crime? " Fan Zhongyi shook his head and said politely: "No. Yang Ye was a surrendered general of the Eastern Han Dynasty (Northern Han Dynasty), how many years did it take before he surrendered to the Tokyo Puppet Dynasty? He doesn't even have many connections in Tokyo, so what does he have to do with Xuzhou Zhou Duan? Furthermore, if Blacksmith Guo wanted to do this to Yang Ye, Yang Ye would probably have no chance to escape. " Yang Gun was still white and was a little dissatisfied with Fan Zhongyi's tone, but he didn't say anything. Yelu Xiezhen, however, agreed very much and said: "Fan's affairs are reasonable. " Xiao Siwen thought for a long time, frowned and said: "After Blacksmith Guo was poisoned, what happened to the Xu Kingdom's court? "After saying that, he looked at Fan Zhongyi. Although this guy is from Youzhou, he is also a Han after all. He may have a deeper understanding of the Han people. But Fan Zhongyi was also a little confused and said: "Let's see the results. Two countries have died. The Duke, a prime minister, King Zheng Guo Zongxun (Chai Zongxun), Shouzhou defense envoy Guo Jin, and Xu governor Shi Zhouduan were not dead, and thousands of people were implicated. Governor Xu Zhouduan and a large group of people were clearly involved in the poisoning case of the puppet emperor Guo Shao. It is not surprising that Prime Minister Fan Zhi and other party members want to fish in troubled waters and support Guo Zongxun to restore the Zhou Dynasty Xu Guoguo officials said that those people colluded to conspire together, but Fan Zhi and Zhong Li have nothing to do with our Daliao , and has no contact with the Zhao family, so the report from the imperial residence of Xu State is not credible. The most strange thing is how did the two confidants of the Duke and Blacksmith Guo die? " Xiao Siwen glanced at Fan Zhongyi and couldn't help but nodded: "Fan Mansion does have real talent and knowledge, and his words are very reasonable. " Fan Zhongyi was greatly encouraged. He bowed with his fists in his hands and said, "Li Chuyun killed Daliao's messenger and didn't seem to rebel. But he was actually killed by a close aide, so why did the aide Zhongli kill Li Chuyun? Yelu Xiezhen asked, "Isn't that person the one we arranged?" " Fan Zhongyi said: "Xiaguan has only been deployed for a few years. How can such important chess pieces be arranged in the Duke's house? The origin of this man is very strange. He was once a subordinate of the rebel general Li Jun, but after being interrogated by Xu Guo's officials, he was released without any problems. If Li Chuyun dared to use him, he would probably be fine after checking. " Xiao Siwen said thoughtfully: "Is it revenge for the old master Li Jun? There is either someone in Han'er's book or the enemy who ruined his face and plotted to assassinate his old master. " Fan Zhongyi said calmly: "Pre-Qin Yurang. " "Yes, yes! "Xiao Siwen suddenly said. Fan Zhongyi said: "Back to Mr. Xiao, due to different dynasties and different folk customs, there was hesitation in the pre-Qin Dynasty, but now I am afraid there is no hesitation. Besides, Li Jun's death had nothing to do with Li Chuyun. " Yang Gun and Yelu Xiezhen scratched their foreheads in unison. Xiao Siwen said: "Is it Guo Blacksmith who wants to kill Li Chuyun? " Fan Zhongyi pondered and said: "It is very possible there are not many people who can kill the Duke, but it is easy for Guo Blacksmith. " Xiao Siwen stood up, took a few steps, turned around and said, "Aside from the tyrant Yelujing, my biggest opponent is Blacksmith Guo. I always think about this person, but I always feel that killing Li Chuyun like this does not seem to be like Guo Tiejiang's style. " Fan Zhongyi said: "It's hard to say that when Han'er fights among themselves, they will do whatever it takes. " Xiao Siwen asked again: "What happened to the Protector Luo Yanhuan? " Fan Zhongyi thought for a while: "Luo Yanhuan and Li Chuyun are close friends of life and death" "Oh! "Xiao Siwen was stunned at first, then thought about it carefully, and was confused again. "At this time, Fan Zhongyi said auspiciously: "On the first day of August, Luo Yanhuan admitted to colluding with Xu Governor Shi Zhouduan. It was known throughout the court, and soon all the government officials heard about it." Then Zhou Duan was convicted of conspiracy to commit treason The official thought that Luo Yanhuan fell into Blacksmith Guo's trap and Blacksmith Guo wanted him to die. Rather than saying that Luo Yanhuan died in collusion with Zhou Duan, it is better to say that he was related to Li Chuyun. Because Luo Yanhuan and Li Chuyun were good friends, they had nothing to do with Zhou Duan. " After hearing this, Xiao Siwen sighed: "The Central Plains court has always been complicated, and it is really difficult to understand the way" Fan Zhongyi said: "It is difficult to say it is difficult, but it is not difficult to say it is not difficult, but we do not have important connections in the Xu court. , so I can only look at the flowers in the mist and the moon in the water. Because since ancient times, the Han Dynasty has been divided between what is outside and what is inside, and what is internal and external is Confucianism. Even the officials in the court, if they are not in the center, have no way of knowing what medicine they are selling in their gourds. "